The Impact of Suboxone’s Market Exclusivity on Cost of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

Original research
by
McGee, Meghan et al

Release Date

2023

Geography

Canada

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

Yes

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Yes

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

To investigate excess costs of buprenorphine-naloxone due to unmerited market exclusivity (no legal patent or data protection) in Canada.

Findings/Key points

If buprenorphine-naloxone cost $0.61 CAD (mean cost after the third generic entered) instead of $1.21 CAD per mg during the pre-generics period, public payers in British Columbia could have saved $5,016,220 CAD between 2011 and 2015. Unmerited 6 years of market exclusivity for brand-name buprenorphine-naloxone in Canada resulted in substantial excess costs.

Design/methods

Interrupted time series examining cost changes before and after formularies listed generics

Keywords

Policy/Regulatory
Barriers and enablers
Substitution/OAT