On February 24, 2023, Doug Clark announced he is stepping down from his position as Executive Director of the PMPRB after almost a decade with PMPRB. Clark will continue to serve as a special advisor to the Board as he transitions to retirement from the federal public service. A staffing process to appoint a successor will be launched shortly.

This announcement comes days after Matthew Herder resigned from his position as PMPRB Board Member, publicizing his reasons in a letter critical of the government’s recent approach to PMPRB’s drug price reform efforts.  

Thomas Digby, who was appointed PMPRB Chairperson earlier this month, made his first public comments about the potential future direction of the PMPRB, within the context of thanking Clark for his service:
 

“At the behest of the Board, [Clark] succeeded in testing the limits of the PMPRB’s mandate, in the boldest tradition of the federal public service, opening the path for future Boards to implement predictable processes with confidence and clarity.” 
 

Dylan Lamb-Palmer, PDCI’s Associate Director of Pricing has analysed a number of important developments coming out of the PMPRB recently. It appears we may be seeing clearer roads ahead for the PMPRB’s mandate.

“I believe today’s announcement is yet another signal of potential sea change at the PMPRB. All of the recent changes appear to indicate a new direction for the federal regulator,” said Lamb-Palmer.

Stay tuned to PDCI’s TargetPharma as more details emerge about the implications for the development of price regulatory guidelines. 

For more information, please consult the PMPRB News release.

Please contact Dylan Lamb-Palmer, Associate Director, Pricing and Data Analytics at dylan.lambpalmer@pdci.ca for any questions or further information.