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CDA | Evidence Driven
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Pilot Expert Committee to Support Decision-Making Across the Drug Life Cycle

New committee will trial novel  approaches to drug reviews and expand support for decision-makers to unleash the value of drugs across their lifespan.

CADTH, Canada’s drug and health technology agency, announces the creation and inaugural membership of a new Formulary Management Expert Committee as a 1-year pilot program.

The objectives of this pilot project are twofold. The first is to respond to the need of public payers for evidence and recommendations that will help them maximize the value of drugs across their lifespan. The second is to create a controlled test-and-learn environment where CADTH can introduce innovative approaches to reviews, methods, deliberative processes, stakeholder  inputs, and the communication of outputs.

This pilot project demonstrates our commitment to delivering on the pillars in the CADTH Strategic Plan by adapting and innovating HTA in a rapidly evolving landscape. This initiative will help catalyze health system change by providing decision-makers with recommendations on advancing the optimal use of drugs.

About the Formulary Management Expert Committee

The Formulary Management Expert Committee is an appointed, pan-Canadian expert review committee comprising individuals with expertise in drug therapy, drug evaluation, drug utilization, and health economics. The inclusion of a patient member ensures that patient perspectives are also represented. The committee includes a core group of experts who will attend each deliberation and up to 2 specialists unique to each review. The core members for this pilot were chosen because of their deep understanding of Canada’s health care system, their experience on CADTH’s existing drug expert committees, and their expertise in health technology assessment.

The Formulary Management Expert Committee will make recommendations on the optimal use and, if appropriate, reimbursement of both oncology and non-oncology drugs across their life cycle to Canada’s publicly funded drug programs and cancer agencies (excluding Quebec). The committee will assess various types of evaluations that may be requested by participating public payers including:

  • Non-Sponsored Single Drug Review — A review that is requested in situations in which a sponsor of a potentially eligible drug chooses not to submit  through CADTH’s sponsored Reimbursement Review process (e.g., for a pediatric indication).
  • Therapeutic Review — A review that compares clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of drugs in a therapeutic category or drug class (e.g., if a number of products have entered a treatment landscape over time).
  • Streamlined Drug Class Review — A class or category review that leverages existing published evidence when new comparative or economic analyses are not required.

Meetings

The committee will meet approximately every 2 months with the first deliberation scheduled for June 29, 2023, when the committee will assess the following nonsponsored single drug reviews:

Future deliberations will assess streamlined drug class reviews, including a review of plaque psoriasis treatments and a therapeutic review of treatments for transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma. To be notified of upcoming projects and input and feedback opportunities, subscribe to the CADTH Weekly Summary email newsletter.

Stakeholder Engagement

Throughout the pilot initiative , CADTH welcomes input from interested stakeholders on the drugs under review. In April 2024, there will also be an opportunity to provide feedback on the overall pilot program. Any questions or comments related to the pilot committee should be sent to CADTH via [email protected].

CADTH will also convene a small advisory board that will provide feedback on the pilot program throughout the process, made up of external stakeholders  from various perspectives (e.g., patients, industry). Details about the advisory board will be shared in the coming weeks.

Members

The core members appointed to the pilot Formulary Management Expert Committee are:

  • Dr. Emily Reynen, Chair, Staff Intensivist at Quinte Health Care Belleville General Hospital (Ontario)
  • Dr. Alun Edwards, Clinical Expert, Professor of Medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary (Alberta)
  • Valerie McDonald, Public Member, Freelance Writer and Editor for health and social service organizations (Ontario)
  • Dr. Jim Silvius, Clinical Expert, Clinical Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Calgary (Alberta)
  • Dr. Marianne Taylor, Clinical Expert, Staff Medical Oncologist for the Drug Funding Sustainability project at the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies (British Columbia)
  • Dr. Maureen Trudeau, Clinical Expert, Head of the Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Ontario)
  • Dr. Dominika Wranik, Economist, Health Policy and Economics Researcher and Professor at Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia)

Related Procedures

For procedural information on the reviews that will be considered by the Formulary Management Expert Committee, including details on feedback opportunities and engagement with industry, clinicians, and patient organizations, please consult the following documents:

Related Information

 

Last Updated : June 8, 2023