On May 30, 2019, the PMPRB published the 2018 edition of the Meds Pipeline Monitor, a horizon scanning report which provides a snapshot of the new drug landscape (see news release). The report considered the 733 medicines currently in Phase III clinical trials or pre-registration with the US Food and Drug Administration and identified 30 that have the potential to address an unmet need, offer an improvement over existing therapies and/or treat a serious condition. These 30 medicines were also analyzed for their potential budgetary impact. Of the 30 new medicines selected, 20 were designated as orphan drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (including 8 gene therapies), 9 were oncology medicines and 3 were biologics. Future editions of this annual publication will monitor the pipeline list featured in this report.
