The Importance of Economic Trade-offs in Cancer Drug Pricing

A Comparative Expected Value Analysis Study to Determine if the Economic Benefits of the Most Commonly Prescribed Prescription and Non-Prescription Drugs in the United States Provide Economic Value

“…Using the list price of cancer drugs invariably makes newer drugs appear less valuable, even though health insurers frequently pay prices well below the list price of oncology drugs (Polite et al, 2014). Drugs for which the incremental costs per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained exceed a certain threshold, often $100,000 per QALY, are deemed to be of low value (Fonseca et al, 2018). Investigators estimate that 9 in every 10 drugs fail at some point in the research and development process (DiMasi, 2013) resulting with estimated costs of drug development (including failed therapies) of over $2 billion per marketed drug (DiMasi 2003).…”

Emerging Technologies for Local Cancer Treatment

“…[6] The high costs of many anticancer treatments opens up yet another point of discourse in which trade-offs are considered between treatment-associated costs, toxicity and efficacy. [9,145,146] This is particularly relevant in the case of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, which in the United States can easily exceed $100 000 per patient per year of treatment. [147][148][149] In this regard, loco-regional drug delivery platforms have emerged as a logical alternative strategy to supplement or replace conventional treatment regimens and improve therapeutic outcome.…”

The Unintended End of Innovation in Cancer Treatment, or the Workings of the Invisible Hand?

“…Fonseca et al's 2 commentary is more of a warning than a policy prescription. I summarize their warning as, "new cancer therapeutics may be undervalued on the demand side, so be very careful about 'artificially manipulating drug prices' as it may have the unintended consequence of curtailing investment in the development of new cancer therapeutics"dthey describe, and imply an unacknowledged or not very well acknowledged, trade-off between cancer drug pricing and innovation.…”