The pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance has concluded negotiations with AbbVie after a months-long stalemate, but each province and territory must still decide to list the treatment.
The Canadian
Newsroom
October 28, 2026
3 min read
A targeted treatment for women with a hard-to-treat form of ovarian cancer has moved a step closer to being covered by public drug plans in Canada. The pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which negotiates drug prices on behalf of provinces, territories and the federal government, has concluded negotiations with drug maker AbbVie on Elahere, or mirvetuximab soravtansine, ending a stalemate that had lasted for months.
Elahere is used for FRα-positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer — a form of the disease that no longer responds to standard platinum-based chemotherapy and has limited options. The drug had already been approved by Health Canada, and Canada’s Drug Agency had recommended that public plans reimburse it. Yet approval and a positive recommendation do not guarantee access, because public coverage depends on a negotiated price.
The alliance listed the talks as concluded with a letter of intent after AbbVie announced the agreement on October 21. Ovarian Cancer Canada called it an encouraging step forward, but noted that the next stage is to persuade each provincial and territorial government to add the drug to its formulary. There is no set timeline for that process, and patients in some provinces could gain access months before those in others.
The case illustrates a long-standing frustration in Canadian drug policy. Between Health Canada approval, health technology assessment, national price negotiation and individual provincial listing decisions, a new treatment can take well over a year to reach patients who rely on public plans. Advocates argue that for cancers with short survival times, those delays carry a real human cost, while governments say tough price negotiations protect budgets for other care.
Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed late, and patients with platinum-resistant disease have historically faced poor outcomes, which is why advocates have pressed for speed. Ovarian Cancer Canada says it will keep pressure on provinces to move quickly. For patients and clinicians, the measure of this agreement will be how soon the drug appears on public formularies — and whether the pan-Canadian process can be shortened for treatments where time is critical.
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