CORD Regional Workshop

On Thursday, May 1^st and Friday, May 2^nd, 2014, our Charitable Programs Director, Taryn, attended the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD) Regional Workshop in Toronto, ON.  Beyond: Current and Evolving NEW Models for Access to Drugs and included presentations on Lifecycle Approach to Drug Development and Access, New Drugs: Orphan Drugs, Personalised Medicines and Biosimilars and Drug Review Process and Drug Plans to name a few.

If you have been following along with the Foundation’s blog, you might have seen that the Foundation is a member of CORD, which is the organization that is currently leading the charge in the creation, development and implementation of Canada’s Orphan Drug Regulatory Framework (to read more about the Foundation’s participation with CORD check out the blog posts A Day on the Hill or Answering TTP Foundation Attends CORD FallConference).

This regional workshop was no different then CORD’s usual larger scale conferences, in that both days were packed full of interesting and invaluable information.

Day 1 was dedicated to Health Technology Assessment and Beyond: Current and Evolving NEW Models for Access to Drugs and included presentations on Lifecycle Approach to Drug Development and Access, New Drugs: Orphan Drugs, Personalised Medicines and Biosimilars and Drug Review Process and Drug Plans to name a few.

Day 2 started with a Media Briefing introducing the Canadian Strategy for Rare Diseases by Durhane Wong-Rieger (CORD President) to Global TV, Sun News and News Talk 1010.  Two rare disease patients also spoke about living as a patient with a rare disease in Canada. Check out the media releaseand media fact documents.

After the media cleared out, David Lee from Health Canada spoke about Canada’s Orphan Drug Regulatory Framework and Vanessa’s Law. This was followed by 2 very lively panel discussions in the afternoon.

Toronto was just the first stop for CORD cross-country Regional Workshop Forum. Check out dates for the upcoming stops HERE at the CORD website.

Are you interested in getting involved with Advocacy within the Answering TTP Foundation, with the possibility of attending these kinds of events? Visit our website to learn more about joining the Foundation’s Patient Advisory Board.