Generic Drug Sector Study : Appendix 2. Data Description

The data in this study refer only to prescription drugs sold in Canada. Non-prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are excluded. Brand-name and generic drug-product data were sourced from IMS Health and Brogan Inc.

IMS Health - Canadian Drug Store and Hospital Purchases Audit

Canadian Drug Store and Hospital Purchases Audit (CDH) from IMS collects data on dollar value and unit volume of pharmaceutical products purchased by retail pharmacies and hospitals, from a representative sample of over 2,000 drugstores and 563 hospitals.

The sample data is projected to the universe of drugstores and hospitals to reflect all purchases in Canada. Drug purchase data are collected electronically and include the following data items: corporation/manufacturer, molecule/chemical, product name, launch date, strength, package size, dollar sales, units, and prescriptions. Data take into account the purchases of drugstores and hospitals regardless of whether purchases were made directly from manufacturers or through wholesalers. Therefore, it includes markup by wholesalers for the volume moving through wholesalers.

The data set used in this report contains information on 108 molecules on the Canadian market that lost patent protection between 2001 and 2006. For each strength and dosage format, by province/region, on a monthly basis, the following information was available: molecule name, product name, therapeutic class level three, manufacturer, strength, product form, launch date, number of prescriptions, number of extended units purchased and price of purchase.

The extended unit may be pills (for oral solids), millilitres (for liquids), doses (for some inhalers) and grams (for powders).

Brogan Inc. - Public and Private Drug Plans Database

Provincial data from Brogan Inc. covers British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Brogan provincial data provide information on drug utilization metrics for molecules available in Canada whose patent expired between 1998 and 2005.

The data set used in this report contains information on OTC and prescription drugs for 283 molecules available in Canada that lost patent protection between 1998 and 2005. Of these, 200 molecules were sold by prescription only. For each molecule, by province, the following information was available: DIN, molecule name, product name, therapeutic class, manufacturer, strength, product form, patent expiry date for branded drugs, NOC issue date, launch date, formulary listing date, formulary listing price, number of claims, number of units dispensed and cost of claims.

In every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, the cost element includes the drug ingredient cost and the pharmacy mark-up. In Newfoundland and Labrador the cost consists of: drug ingredient cost + pharmacy mark-up + pharmacy dispensing fee (for some plans) ? patient co-payment.

The average pharmacy mark-up was 7% in Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba, 8% in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 15% in Newfoundland and Labrador, 10% in Ontario, 12.95% in Prince Edward Island and up to 9% in Quebec. In Saskatchewan the pharmacy mark-up is 30% for a drug cost up to $6.30, 15% for a drug cost between $6.31 and $15.80, and 10% for a drug cost of $15.81 to $200.00, up to a maximum of $20.00 for drug cost over $200.00. The private plans allowed for an average mark-up of 10%.

The following version of each provincial formulary was used to obtain information on formulary list prices.

Table 16. Sources of Provincial Formulary Prices

AB	Alberta HWDBL Full list, January 2007 and Alberta Additions, March 2007
BC	Up to Bulletin of March 21 2007
MB	Manitoba Interchangeable Formulary, December 2006
NL	Interchangeable Drug Formulary, March 2007
NB	New Brunswick: MAP List, March 2007
NS	MAC List, July 2006 and update MAC, February 2007
PEI	MAC List, May 2006
ON	ODB Edition 39 and updates, March 2007
QC	Liste de Medicaments, February 2007
SK	Formulary of February 2006 and many bulletins until January 2007

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