High costs for cancer drugs are not always justified
31.08.2023 14:12
Is a drug against cancer so expensive because it works particularly well? An international UZH study comes to the conclusion that there is no connection between the clinical benefit and the cost of a medication. The researchers are therefore calling for the potential effectiveness to be better taken into account when setting prices.
More and more new cancer drugs have come onto the market in recent years, and yet the prices for the therapies have risen in Europe and the USA. This is driving up healthcare costs – a challenge not only for the social security system in Switzerland, but also for patients around the world. But: Are these high prices for cancer drugs justified? Does the cost also correspond to the effectiveness in combating the disease? An international research team from the University of Zurich and Harvard Medical School investigated these questions in a study.
Cost comparison of 65 cancer drugs
The scientists led by Kerstin Noëlle Vokinger, professor at the University of Zurich, analyzed the costs of cancer drugs in Switzerland, Germany, England and France as well as in the USA. The prices of 65 newer oncologic drugs for solid tumors and blood cancers have been adjusted to the monthly treatment costs of a standard patient.
In a second step, the researchers determined whether there is a connection between the monthly treatment costs and the clinical benefit of the cancer drugs for solid tumors. They calculated the effectiveness of the drugs, which were approved by both the American and European regulatory authorities, using two established medical benefit assessment systems for cancer therapies, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Value Framework and the European Society of Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale ».
No connection between costs and benefits
“Our study clearly shows that there is no connection between the clinical benefits of cancer drugs and their prices for Switzerland, Germany, England and the USA,” explains lead author Kerstin Vokinger. Only for France is there a correlation based on one of the two benefit assessment systems. “It is also clear that the prices for cancer drugs in the USA are significantly higher than in the four European countries – on average, Americans pay twice as much for the same drug.”
This is because in the USA the free market plays a role in setting prices. In Europe, on the other hand, national authorities negotiate with manufacturers. According to the study, of the European countries examined, Switzerland has the second highest tariffs behind England, while the drugs are cheaper in Germany and France. However, it should be taken into account that England has internal discounts for certain medicines that are not known to the public, and so the actual prices may be lower.
Drug prices are not justified
“The pricing of cancer drugs is only partially justified. Drugs with low effectiveness should have lower prices than those with high effectiveness,” demands the UZH professor. “The national authorities should increasingly take the benefits of a drug into account in their price negotiations and give priority to drugs with high benefits in the price-setting process.” Vokinger is convinced that this is the only way to guarantee affected patients access to important anti-cancer drugs due to the limited financial resources of the health systems.
Original publication
Kerstin N Vokinger, Thomas J Hwang, Thomas Grischott, Sophie Reichert, Ariadna Tibau, Thomas J Rosemann, Aaron S Kesselheim: Prices and clinical benefit of cancer drugs in the USA and Europe: a cost–benefit analysis. The Lancet Oncology, April 30, 2020. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30139-X
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30139-X