CDR Releases CEDAC Nominations

August 06, 2003

OTTAWA — The federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Health have announced the membership of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC), a key component of the new Common Drug Review (CDR).

CEDAC is a new independent advisory body of drug therapy and drug evaluation experts. Based on a critical appraisal of the best available clinical and pharmacoeconomic evidence, CEDAC will provide drug listing recommendations for new drugs, including conditions and/or criteria for coverage where appropriate, to participating drug plans. The drug plans will continue to make individual listing and drug benefit coverage decisions.

The CDR is an intergovernmental initiative that will provide a consistent and evidence-based approach for conducting drug reviews and will reduce the duplication of effort by participating federal/provincial/territorial (F/P/T) drug plans. All F/P/T drug plans are participating except Quebec. The Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) delivers the CDR on behalf of participating drug plans.

“CEDAC brings together a depth of national expertise and experience in drug evaluation far greater than any individual jurisdiction could assemble,” said CCOHTA President Jill M. Sanders. “As a national committee of drug evaluation experts, CEDAC is an important new resource for publicly funded drug plans that will greatly enhance decision making and enable participating plans to focus on the most therapeutically beneficial and cost-effective drugs for the benefit of patients.”

Dr. Andreas Laupacis, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, was appointed CEDAC Chair. Dr. Laupacis is widely published on the topic of drug policy and cost-effectiveness evaluations. He has served as a member of Ontario’s Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee since 1999.

Dr. John Conly, Head of the Department of Medicine, University of Calgary and Calgary Health Region, was appointed CEDAC Vice-Chair. Dr. Conly has been extensively involved in clinical trials and research and previously served as a member of Ontario’s Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee for three years.

Other CEDAC members are:

• Dr. Ken Bassett, Senior Medical Consultant, University of British Columbia Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
• Dr. Margot J. Burnell, Medical Oncologist, Department of Oncology and Department of Internal Medicine, Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation
• Dr. Bruce Carleton, Associate Professor and Chair, Division of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia
• Dr. Michael Evans, Family Physician, Toronto Western Hospital
• Dr. Anne Holbrook, Clinical Pharmacologist and Internal Medicine Specialist, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
• Dr. Laurie Mallery, Acting Head, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Dalhousie University and Acting Director, Centre for Health Care of the Elderly, Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre
• Dr. Braden Manns, Nephrologist, Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
• Dr. Tom Paton, Director, Department of Pharmacy, Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre
• Dr. Dale Quest, Associate Member, College of Medicine/Pharmacology and the College of Dentistry/Biological, Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences and Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan

The F/P/T Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health made the appointments following a national nomination process. The Board of Directors of CCOHTA will make future CEDAC appointments.

CEDAC will hold its inaugural meeting in October. A schedule of meetings for the next 12 months will be established at the inaugural meeting. The committee will meet a minimum of six times per year.

With the appointment of CEDAC, the CDR is now operational. The CDR Directorate at CCOHTA began accepting submissions from manufacturers for new chemical entities and new combination products on September 1, 2003.

CCOHTA is an independent not-for-profit health research organization funded by the Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments. CCOHTA provides unbiased, reliable information about health technology. CCOHTA also manages the Common Drug Review on behalf of participating federal, provincial and territorial drug benefit plans.

For more information contact:
Stefania Allevato: Communications, CCOHTA
613-226-2553 x281 ? stefaniaa@ccohta.ca
EDITORS: CEDAC Terms of Reference and profiles of CEDAC members are available from CCOHTA’s web site at www.ccohta.ca