National formulary
What is a formulary?
A formulary is an official list of the medications that are available to be prescribed. The formulary also offers details that may be relevant to clinicians, such as appropriate uses for a particular product, recommended guidelines for patient care and information for proper administration of the product by clinicians or patients. All products are reviewed prior to being listed on the national formulary.
Product Selection Process
How do products get on the formulary?
Any new product needs to be licensed by Health Canada before it will be considered for the national formulary. New products can be added to the formulary in one of two ways, either through Canadian Blood Services’ RFP process or through a product review process involving Canadian Blood Services and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and must be approved by the provincial and territorial ministries of health (excluding Quebec).
*The product selection process for the national plasma protein and related products formulary is under review. Please contact PPRPFormularyprogram@blood.ca for any questions.
Formulary Listing Recommendations
The following formulary listing recommendation reports provide details on CADTH’s and Canadian Blood Services’ product reviews. The reports include recommendations, supporting notes, and key milestones of each review.
| Hemlibra (emicizumab) | Completed | May 21, 2021 | |
| Vonvendi (von Willebrand factor [recombinant]) | Under review | April 22, 2022 | |
| Zemaira (Alpha1-proteinase inhibitor [human]) | Under review | May 3, 2022 |
Meeting Canadians’ needs
As a national program, we are committed to meeting the needs of patients in Canada while being good stewards of health-care resources. To do the most good for the most people in the most cost-effective way, we need to ensure that our national formulary is informed by the best evidence. We know that the same products can be used in different ways, and that use may evolve with new research and clinical practice, so we look for trends in how products are being used and we adjust the formulary, where needed, to keep meeting patients’ needs now and in the future.
Meeting unique patients’ needs
Some plasma protein and related products are recommended for use in specific patient populations but are not appropriate for universal access. Our Special Authorization Program (for products ordered using the Request for Patient Designated Plasma Protein Products form) allows products to be available for patients who meet certain criteria. This ensures the formulary continues to do the most good for the most people in an evidence-based and fiscally-responsible manner.
