B.C. shifting to cover cheaper 'biosimilar' drugs, health minister says

British Columbia is changing the type of drugs funded by its prescription programby expanding the use of cheaper equivalents to treat diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said it's shifting, in part, to "biosimilar" drugs, which arenew versions of existing medications that cost anywhere from 25 per cent to 50 per cent less.

On Monday, Dix saidCanada has one of the lowest rates of use for the lower cost drugs, while the use of biosimilars in some European countries exceeds 90 per cent.

Dix saidB.C. is the first jurisdiction in Canada to support the increased useof biosimilar drugs, which are safe and effective.

Bioengineered drugs are the single biggest expense for public drug plans.In 2018, B.C. spent $125 million on three of the drugs that treat chronic conditionssuch as diabetes, rheumatoidarthritis and Crohn's.

Dix said the diabetes management drug Jardiance will be added immediately to PharmaCare, benefiting up to 22,000 patients. The addition of the arthritis drug Taltz will improve treatment options for people with arthritis, he said, and about 2,700 Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients will be changing to a biosimilar medicine available in coming months.

There will be a six-month transition period to the new drugs and thenPharmaCarewill no longer provide coverage for the original drugs.

He said the changes are expected to save the province $96.6 million over the next three years.

"What we're doing today is helping tens of thousands of people,'' said Dix.

"I think this is simply the right decision for taxpayers. Inflation of prescription drug costs, orPharmaCarecosts, is growing in Canada. There are many new expensive drugs for rare diseases that provide hope for many Canadians, but we will require to take steps to make ourPharmaCareprograms more efficient.''