On October 26, 2017, the Federal Minister of Health tabled the 2016 Annual Report of the PMPRB with the Clerks of the House of Commons and the Senate. The report indicates that Canadian patented drug prices were the fourth-highest among the seven comparator countries against which the PMPRB reviewed prices, behind Switzerland, Germany and the United States. Sales of patented drug products in 2016 totaled $15.5 billion and accounted for 60.8% of total drug sales in Canada. Research and development spending in 2016 remained unchanged from 2015 and was reported as 4.4% of sales revenues. As of March 31, 2017, 101 investigations into possible excessive patented drug pricing were ongoing.
