In a three-page resignation letter he posted to Twitter, Matthew Herder accused the federal Liberals of asking the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board (PMPRB) to reduce drug costs—then siding with drug companies’ attempts to keep it from doing so. “When government adds its voice to that of industry, all that lies before the regulator is an endless tunnel with no light,” he wrote. (The Logic)

Talking point: Herder, a Dalhousie University associate professor of medicine and law, had been on the board since 2018. Beyond thanking Herder for his work through a spokesperson, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos refused to comment to The Logic on the resignation. Changes to the international comparators the PMPRB uses to assess the prices of patent-protected medicines in Canada were first promised in 2019, raising hope the move would drive down drug costs. But the changes have been held back again and again as the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the Liberals prioritized supplies of scarce pharmaceuticals over low costs. Now they’re a sticking point as the government tries to build a domestic industry that researches and sells cutting-edge drugs in Canada.