May 15, 2023
On May 15th, ASBM Executive Director Michael Reilly participated in a webinar entitled Impact of Emerging Policies on the Vision of Older Canadians hosted by the International Federation on Ageing (IFA). As part of the celebration of the Vision Health Month, this webinar was executed to raise awareness on the importance of eye health, prevention of vision […]
May 9, 2023
On May 9th, GaBI Journal published a whitepaper titled “Canadian prescribers’ attitudes and perceptions about ophthalmic biosimilars”, based on the recent survey of 41 Canadian ophthalmologists by ASBM and the International Federation on Ageing (IFA). The paper is authored by IFA Secretary-General Jane Barratt and ASBM Executive Director Michael Reilly. The survey revealed that 81% […]
February 28, 2023
Press Release: As Ontario Announces Forced Biosimilar Switching, Ophthalmologists Are Latest Specialty to Raise Concerns 28 February 2023 TORONTO, ONTARIO – Physicians and their patients- and not a government -should choose which biologic medicine to use, according to a new survey of Canadian ophthalmologists by the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM) and the International […]
January 30, 2023
In December, the Ontario government announced that it would follow other Canadian provinces including British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and require mandatory switching to biosimilars. a mandatory switching in 2020, but implementation was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A nine-month transition period will begin March 31st. From the government’s announcement: Ontarians receiving coverage under the ODB […]
July 5, 2022
On July 20th, 2022 ASBM and the Generics and Biosimilars Initiative (GaBI) hosted a 2-hour webinar entitled “Non-Medical Switching of Biologicals and Biosimilars: Canada, Europe, and the US” The event offered an overview of non-medical switching practices in different regions and focused on the importance of safeguarding the patient-physician relationship. Watch the webinar here. Academic […]
April 29, 2022
On April 29th, ASBM submitted comments to Health Canada as part of a stakeholder consultation on its draft Handbook for healthcare professionals on biosimilar biologic drugs. One key area of focus for ASBM’s comments was mixed messaging surrounding biosimilar equivalence and switching, including language which implies, inaccurately, that Canada’s policies were consistent with those of regulators in […]
April 29, 2022
On April 29th, ASBM submitted comments to Health Canada as part of a stakeholder consultation on its draft Handbook for healthcare professionals on biosimilar biologic drugs. One key area of focus for ASBM’s comments was mixed messaging surrounding biosimilar equivalence and switching, including language which implies, inaccurately, that Canada’s policies were consistent with those of regulators in […]
April 24, 2022
On April 14, 2022, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Canadian Minister of Health, issued a statement announcing the Government’s intention related to the coming-into-force of the Amendments to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) Regulations. The Minister’s statement advised that Health Canada will proceed with changing the new basket of comparator countries and will not proceed with […]
September 30, 2021
During the months of September and October, three op-eds by ASBM Executive Director Michael Reilly ran in numerous Canadian papers throughout Quebec, New Brunswick, and Ontario. Quebec and New Brunswick recently announced they would be adopting forced biosimilar switching policies. Ontario has considered, but not yet implemented such a move. Read the Quebec op-ed here (French) Read the New […]
September 30, 2021
On September 30th, the Generics and Biosimilars Initiative published GaBI Journal, Volume 10, 2021, Issue 3, containing a new whitepaper by ASBM Executive Director Michael Reilly and Advisory Board Chair Philip Schneider. The paper is entitled “A Critical Review of Substitution Policy for Biosimilars in Canada” and highlights the stark contrast between the forced-substitution policies recently enacted by some Canadian provinces and the pro-competition policies […]
