Ottawa, Canada
“CADTH believes that credible, objective evidence should inform every important health care decision.”
– Suzanne McGurn, President and CEO, CADTH
History and Structure
Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) was established in 1989, by Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments to be a trusted source of independent information and advice for the country’s publicly funded health care systems. Canada’s health administrators and policy experts rely on CDA-AMC to help inform their decisions about the life cycle management of drugs, devices, and services used to prevent, diagnose, and treat medical conditions.
Organization Purpose
To power evidence-informed drug and health technology decisions for sustainable, world-class health care for all.
How CDA-AMC Works
CDA-AMC delivers evidence, analysis, advice, and recommendations to health care decision-makers so that they can make informed decisions. Our approach is customer-focused and our products and services are designed to meet a broad spectrum of needs.
CDA-AMC seeks patient perspectives to improve the quality of our assessments of medical procedures, devices, and drugs. Patients, families, and communities can offer insight on the diversity of individual needs and health care settings across Canada.
CDA-AMCwork is grouped into the following evidence product categories:
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- Horizon Scans:alerts health care systems about new or emerging health technologies that could impact the delivery of care in Canada.
- Health Technology Reviews:includes independent assessments of drugs and other health technologies. Assessments consist of one, or a combination, of the following: an environmental scan, a rapid review, a clinical (or systematic) review, an economic review, or a review of patient perspectives. They may also include an assessment of the legal, ethical, social, implementation, environmental, and policy implications of a specific health technology. Recommendations on the appropriate use of health technologies are provided where applicable.
- Reimbursement Reviews: includes drug funding recommendations to Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial public drug programs. CDA-AMC’s reimbursement recommendations are based on comprehensive assessments of the clinical and pharmacoeconomic evidence, as well as input from pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, and patient groups. Recommendations cover oncology drugs, non-oncology drugs, plasma protein products, and CAR-T and gene therapies. Where appropriate, CDA-AMC recommends the appropriate place in therapy for drugs within a therapeutic class.
- Scientific Advice:offers pharmaceutical companies advice on their early drug development plans from a health technology assessment perspective. This helps industry optimize the time to market for new therapies.
Dissemination Activities
CDA-AMC was created to advance Canada’s capacity to use evidence as the basis for sound health care decisions, and this strategic imperative remains a cornerstone of our work. Our Partnerships and Linkages harness the power of collaboration, both nationally and internationally, to share information, transfer best practices, and work together on key strategic issues. Our structure of advisory bodies provides us with the counsel and expertise of authorities in a variety of key disciplines that are vital to the quality of our work. The members of these bodies also serve as ambassadors for evidence-informed decision-making.
The Canadian Journal of Health Technologies is an open-access journal that publishes the work of CDA-AMC, and all products are readily available at no cost on cda-amc.ca
Current Projects
Information on current projects can be obtained from the CDA-AMC web site (cda-amc.ca).
Future Plans
CDA-AMC’s 2022 – 2025 strategic plan Ahead of the Curve: Shaping Future-Ready Health Systems was designed to advance cda-amc.ca’s leadership in evidence-informed health care. The plan sets out three strategic pillars that are the foundation of cda-amc.cawork:
- Anticipate: enable future-ready health care
- Innovate: unleash the value of technology across its lifespan
- Transform: catalyze health system change
Agency Information
Country: Canada
Description of population served: National
Population served (mil): 38.25
Current HTA budget (mil USD): $19.5
Permanent staff: over 280
Consultants: variable
Ongoing TA projects: 25-35
Contact information
Director: Suzanne McGurn
Contact person: Suzanne McGurn
Canada’s Drug Agency – L’Agence des médicaments du Canada
865 Carling Avenue, Suite 600
K1S 5S8 Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Tel: +1 613 226 2553
Fax: +1 613 226 5392
Internet: cda-amc.ca
Email: suzanne.mcgurn@cadth.ca