One of the world's most costly cancer drugs will not be marketed in Canada because of a price dispute between the drug's distributor and the federal government.
The colorectal cancer drug Erbitux, which was approved by Health Canada nine months ago, will not be launched after distributor Bristol Myers Squibb Canada could not agree on a price with the federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board., The Globe and Mail reports.
Marc Osborne, director of public relations for Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, refused to say how much the company wants to charge for the drug, but it's believed the federal board has found it to be too high.
In Europe, Erbitux sells for less than half of what it does in the United States, a spokeswoman for Merck KGaA, the company that licenses Erbitux in Europe, told The Globe.
Erbitux typically costs the equivalent of $5,677 Cdn monthly.
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