Canada: "Overpricing" Of ICN's Virazole
Canada's federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board has ruled that ICN Canada Ltd has been selling its respiratory syncytial virus treatment Virazole (ribavirin) at an excessive price since January 1994 (Marketletter April 29). This decision marks the first finding of excessive pricing by the Board following a hearing.
The Board has ordered ICN Canada Ltd and ICN Pharmaceuticals to cut Virazole's price from C$1,540 ($1,121) to about C$200 ($145.62), less than the 1996 maximum non-excessive price, which is currently around C$400. It has also ordered ICN to make a payment to the Crown of C$1.2 million ($873,720) by August 26.
The PMPRB also found that ICN Canada Ltd and ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc had engaged in a policy of excessive pricing since January 1994. It concluded that "the actions of ICN warrant the exercise of the Board's remedial power to the full extent permitted by the Patent Act, which is an order that will recover twice the cumulative excess revenues received by ICN Canada Ltd, to date."
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
Free
7 day trial access
- All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
- Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
- Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.
Become a subscriber
£820
Or £77 per month
- Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
- Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
- Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
- Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
- Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
Today's issue
Company Spotlight
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze