First of its kind study on the value of Canada’s specialty drug market

The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada (Neighbourhood Pharmacies) has teamed up with IQVIA (formerly IMS Health) to get a more quantitative picture of Canada’s specialty drug market. A first of its kind in Canada, the study and subsequent report will focus on better understanding the real value of specialty services, so there can be better advocacy for them to government and other stakeholders. Speaking at the recent Specialty Pharmacy Summit, hosted by Neighbourhood Pharmacies, IQVIA’s general manager for oncology, Brad Millson noted that first being able to clearly demonstrate the interaction between patients and pharmacists in an evidence-based manner will help determine how best to treat and manage specialty patients. Read: Shoppers Drug Mart partners with Manulife for Specialty Drug Care program “The goal of this research is to lay out what is the true value of these services . . . and what is the effort and scope of these services,” said Millson. “Do we even know how many specialty services are delivered to patients in a given year and what is the impact of these services to patients?” The study will look at four components of specialty medicine including benefit to patients, benefit to the healthcare system at large, the investment and replacement costs involved if these services are eliminated, and the overall footprint in terms of scope and scale. The focus will also be on six core specialty service areas: upfront investment in infrastructure and inventory management; drug access navigation; infusion administration/coordination; dispensing and related clinical services; assessment and management of adherence; and lab coordination and other monitoring. Read: Innovators: Taking specialty care to new levels At this point, the data is still being collected and key findings are expected to be shared in early 2023. “As funding models get changed and challenged though biosimilars, [it's] having evidence in hand that says 'Here are the services we are providing and have been of value and now what are we doing to keep those for the patient,'” said Millson. The two-day summit, which took place in Toronto in November, also focused on trends across the specialty market, including the impact of COVID-19—as well as the importance of collaborating data sets to develop real-work evidence that can impact healthcare policies. Panelists also discussed the clinical and care navigation services needed in dealing with complex specialty patients in pharmacy. The summit ended with a look at novel therapies such as gene and cell-based specialty therapies on the horizon. Read: Pharmacist-developed courses target leadership and wellness

First of its kind study on the value of Canada’s specialty drug market

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