Two years ago, the drugmaker refused to sell the cancer med in Canada because the government board that regulates the cost of patented meds decided the price would have been too high. Now, though, Bristol-Myers has agreed to sell Erbiux and at a price lower than it had wanted, The Globe and Mail reports.

A Bristol-Myers spokesman says Erbitux will be marketed some time this year at a price agreed to by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, but insists the decision was largely due studies showing the drug can prolong the lives of metastatic colorectal cancer patients, in addition to patients with certain head and neck cancers. “The price issue is behind us,” he tells the paper. ”We’re going to work at making sure it’s available to Canadians beyond the special access program.”

“While we seemingly obtained a good result in this case, both the Commissioner of Patents and the Competition Bureau should be prepared to step in to prevent such abusive behaviour in the future,” E. Richard Gold, director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy at McGill University, tells the Globe and Mail, adding that the government has the power to issue a compulsory licence to another drugmaker that could make and sell the same medicine.

Patented drugs in Canada aren’t sold at a price that the market will bear, the paper writes. When a new drug is introduced, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board scrutinizes the prices being commanded in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The Canadian price can’t be the highest of those countries; typically it is set at the median.

Now that the drug will be marketed, the next question will be whether provincial governments will fund it, the paper writes. The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada estimates it costs about $56,000 for a standard course of therapy. For many patients, obtaining the drug often meant paying out of pocket after first applying through Health Canada’s special access program, where those with serious or life-threatening conditions can obtain drugs - typically those that are unlicenced under certain circumstances.

Since 2005, Erbitux has been released 495 times under that program, according to Health Canada. Currently, some Quebec hospitals fund the drug on a case-by-case basis. The BC Cancer Agency has funded the drug since January, 2008, for patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, with a course of treatment running about $10,000.

Ontario has provided the broadest coverage for colorectal cancer patients, having sent those eligible to receive it to United States cancer hospitals for the past three years. Specifically, it spent $24.3-million for 328 patients to have the infusions in the United States from fiscal 2005-2006 to April 15, 2008, according to figures provided by Ontario Health Ministry spokesman John Yoannou.

Sylvie Dupont, board secretary of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, tells the paper that the Erbitux cost is confidential. However, a report from that federal board, shows the median price of the drug charged in seven countries in 2005 was $324 per two-milligram/millilitre dose. By comparison, the US price was more than double that at $673 per two-2 milligram/millilitre dose. The Bristol-Myers spokesman declined to reveal the price due to competitive reasons.