Saskatchewan health minister signs on to federal deal for rare disease drugs
CTV
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill has signed a deal with the federal government to expand access to medication for people with rare diseases.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill has signed a deal with the federal government to expand access to medication for people with rare diseases.
Cockrill and federal Health Minister Mark Holland signed a bilateral agreement on Friday which will spend more than $40 million to improve access to selected new drugs for rare diseases, and to support enhanced access to existing drugs, early diagnosis and screening.
“This agreement and this partnership with the federal government is important to the ongoing commitment of both the federal and provincial governments to improve access to innovative treatments, early diagnosis and screening and coverage of these high-cost drugs. I look forward to the continued work to improve the health and wellbeing of Saskatchewan residents,” Cockrill said.
The first step in the agreement includes coverage for Poteligeo for treating Sezary syndrome, Oxlumo for hyperoxaluria type 1 and Epkinly for large B-cell lymphoma.
More drugs will be added in subsequent agreements on a drug-by-drug basis following the conclusion of the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance price negotiations for each drug, according to a federal news release.
Holland says this first step is significant and gets the federal and provincial government one step closer to providing better healthcare outcomes, and a potential path to a provincial pharmacare agreement.
