The Federal / Provincial / Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health recently announced the transfer of the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) effective April 1, 2014. This decision was made to further consolidate policy direction across different drug programs and improve the pCODR governance structure to ensure its long-term viability and sustainability.

The transfer of pCODR to CADTH will occur in two phases:

• Phase 1: pCODR staff, processes, funding, and expertise will remain intact as a program, with continued operations in Toronto, Ontario, under the governance of CADTH.
• Phase 2: Scheduled for April 2015, will explore better alignment of pCODR and CADTH Common Drug Review evaluation criteria, while taking advantage of the best practices of both review processes.