Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2030

Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market Analysis and Size

The model of a specialty pharmacy is intended to provide a comprehensive and coordinated model of care for patients with chronic illnesses and complex medical conditions, achieve superior clinical and economic outcomes, and expedite patient access to care. Specialty pharmacies connect severely ill patients with the medications prescribed for their conditions, provide the patient care services required for these medications, and support patients who are facing reimbursement challenges for these life-changing and at times, life-saving but frequently expensive medications.

The increasing geriatric population is expected to drive the segment's growth. However, the stringent regulatory framework is expected to hinder the Canada specialty pharmacy market's growth.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the Canada specialty pharmacy market is expected to reach the value of USD 14,192.50 million by 2030, at a CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period. Clinical services account for the largest segment in the Canada specialty pharmacy market.

Market Definition

Specialty pharmacies differ from traditional pharmacies in that they coordinate many aspects of patient care and disease management. They are intended to deliver medications with special handling, storage, and distribution requirements in a standardized manner that allows for economies of scale. Specialty pharmacies are also intended to improve clinical and economic outcomes for patients suffering from complex, often chronic, and rare conditions, with close contact and management by clinicians. Specialty pharmacies employ healthcare professionals who educate patients, help ensure appropriate medication use, promote adherence, and try to avoid unnecessary costs. Other support systems coordinate information sharing among clinicians treating patients and assist patients in locating resources to help with out-of-pocket expenses.

Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market Dynamics

This section deals with understanding the market drivers, advantages, opportunities, restraints, and challenges. All of this is discussed in detail as below:

Drivers/Opportunities

• Increasing prevalence of chronic and rare diseases

With the rising economic growth, people are more interested in long-term health and wellness. Patients with chronic diseases need to monitor their health on a regular basis. Specialty pharmacy services help manage chronic and rare diseases due to the availability of specialty drugs for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, and rare diseases such as autoimmune disorders, namely eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), Guillain-Barre syndrome, Kawasaki disease among others. Its service includes medication dispensing and providing other healthcare assistance.

• Increasing geriatric population

As the geriatric population is more prone to chronic disease and injuries, the prevalence rate of their diseases and injuries in Canada leads to demand for specialty pharmacy services to monitor and care for their health. Therefore, the geriatric population and its rising disease rates play a major role in driving the specialty pharmacy market. These services use a unique combination of digital tools and compassionate clinical services to deliver fertility medication, nurse-administered home infusions, and care for people living with everything from rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and HIV to the rarest of rare conditions.

• Emerging markets of specialty pharmacies

A major factor in the growth of the specialized pharmacy market is the aging population. Diabetes due to an unhealthy lifestyle and rising dementia, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases are common in the geriatric population. From 2015 to 2021, the number of seniors is projected to exceed the number of children aged 14 and younger for the first time. By 2036, seniors could reach between 9.9 and 10.9 million people. According to a medium-growth scenario, the number of people aged 80 and older is expected to double to 3.3 million by 2036. The population aged 100 and older could triple to more than 20,000. Apart from the geriatric population, GDP, population density, and improving access to the specialized pharmacy market create growth opportunities.

Restraints/Challenges

• Stringent regulatory framework

Canada's federal and provincial governments jointly set their pharmaceutical policy. The federal government is in charge of protecting producers' intellectual property rights (patents), initial approval, labelling, and overall market competition for prescription medications. The provincial government is in charge of and has authority over financing all medical services, including prescription drugs. Moreover, specialty drugs come under high-risk drugs, including those for chronic diseases such as cancer and rare diseases such as autoimmune diseases. Therefore, there are different sets of regulatory frameworks for the distribution as well as manufacturing of these drugs.

• Insufficient funding for specialty pharmacies

The mortality ratio due to chronic diseases is very high in the Canadian region. One of the major reasons for this is the insufficient funding for specialty pharmacies which leads to a decrease in the number of specialty pharmacies.

Specialty pharmacies deal with specialty drugs for chronic diseases and rare diseases. A specialty pharmacy is a state-licensed pharmacy that solely or largely provides medications for people with serious health conditions requiring complex therapies. These medications and therapies have very out-of-pocket rates, which in turn makes the specialty pharmacy a very costly business to start with, which requires huge amounts of investments and funding. The negligent government aid and initiatives are leading to the decline of these pharmacies.

Thus, the insufficient funding for specialty pharmacies may act as a challenge in the growth of Canada specialty pharmacy market.

Post COVID-19 Impact on Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market

The coronavirus pandemic has affected Canada's specialty pharmacy industry across four main areas: product sourcing and procurement, product launch and distribution, acquisition and access, and treatment and care management. Specialty pharmacies have risen to the occasion by working closely with federal and provincial government agencies to address challenges experienced by the healthcare system to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These include exploring new ways of working, increasing testing capacity and results tracking for COVID-19, and ultimately working toward the development, manufacture, and delivery of safe and effective vaccines and treatment. Manufacturers are making various strategic decisions to bounce back post-COVID-19. The players are conducting multiple strategies and programs for the specialty pharmacy market.

Recent Development

• In March 2022, BioScript solutions and NeonMind announced the strategic partnership to expand the specialty clinic network for interventional psychiatry treatments. This partnership will leverage the BioScript solutions in an extensive national network of community-based infusion clinics to expand access to NeonMind's interventional psychiatry and unique treatment programs for Canadians

Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market Scope

Canada specialty pharmacy market is categorized into three segments, which are based on service type, type, and condition. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze major growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to help them make strategic decisions for identifying core market applications.

• Service Type
  • Clinical services
  • Operational services
  • Other services

On the basis of service type, the Canada specialty pharmacy market is segmented into clinical services, operational services, and other services.

•  Type
  • Large pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)
  • Small-independent pharmacy service providers

On the basis of type, the Canada specialty pharmacy market has been segmented into large pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) and small-independent pharmacy service providers.

• Condition
  • Anemia
  • Cancer
  • HIV
  • Infertility
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Growth hormone deficiencies
  • Hepatitis c virus
  • Hemophilia
  • Psoriasis
  • Pulmonary hypertension
  • Crohn's disease
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Immune deficiency
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Others

On the basis of condition, the Canada specialty pharmacy market has been segmented into anemia, cancer, HIV, infertility, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, growth hormone deficiencies, hepatitis C virus, hemophilia, psoriasis, pulmonary hypertension, Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, immune deficiency, osteoarthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and others.

Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market Regional Analysis/Insights

Canada specialty pharmacy market is analyzed, and market size insights and trends are provided by country, service type, type, and conditions as referenced above.

Canada specialty pharmacy market is growing because of the increasing demand for specialty drugs, increasing distribution channels as well as growing prevalence of chronic conditions are expected to drive the market's growth.

The country section of the report also provides individual market-impacting factors and changes in market regulation that impact the current and future trends of the market. Data points like downstream and upstream value chain analysis, technical trends and porter's five forces analysis, and case studies are some of the pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, the presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, the impact of domestic tariffs, and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.

Competitive Landscape and Canada Specialty Pharmacy Market Share Analysis

Canada specialty pharmacy market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, and application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies focus on the specialty pharmacy market.

Some of the major players operating in the specialty pharmacy market are McKesson Canada, Bayshore HealthCare, SRx Health, Sentrex Health Solutions, Sobeys Inc., PHARMASAVE, Lovell Drugs, Create Compounding Ltd., Dynasty Pharmacy, Resident Care Pharmacy, Pace Pharmacy, Northmount Pharmacy and Compounding Lab, Medicine Centre, riverviewguardian.ca, Brunskillpharmacy, Extend Pharmacy, Sherman Specialty Pharmacy, Quiick Medicine, Allcures Pharmacy, Alpine Drug Mart I.D.A., PharmaChoiceAnchor Compounding Pharmacy, Andreen's Pharmacy, Balanced Health Integrative Pharmacy, Bains Pharmacy, Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty Health Network Inc., MEDS among others.

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