Ontario focused on rare disease drugs ahead of national drug plan talks

TORONTO: The Canadian province of Ontario will push for the federal government to tackle the high cost of treatments for rare diseases as negotiations over a new national prescription drug program are set to kick off, the province's health minister told Reuters on Monday.

While rare disease treatments face small markets, the extremely high prices they command and policies that speed their approval have made them a hot and profitable niche for drugmakers.Elliott said she told new federal Minister of Health Patty Hajdu during a call on Friday that provincial and territorial ministers would like to teleconference early in the new year and meet in the spring on a number of issues, including drug costs.

Trudeau's Liberals will need the support of rivals like the left-leaning New Democratic Party to govern. The NDP has pushed for a comprehensive, single-payer drug program. If too many provinces opt out of pharmacare, that would weaken the program as lower participation means less bargaining power in buying drugs. As Canada's most populous province, Ontario is particularly important, but the promise of billions in new federal funding could make a deal possible.

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