OBJECTIVES : We systematically investigated the current status of global value assessment tools for drugs so as to provide guidance for establishing drug value assessment index system in China.

METHODS : We systematically searched Medline, EMBASE, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and other Chinese database including VIP, Wanfang; related websites, the official websites of oncology society and etc. combining MeSH items with free words with a cutoff date from inception till February 28th, 2019. A descriptive and side-by-side comparative analysis were carried out.

RESULTS : A total of 12 eligible value assessment tools for drugs published in English, all from Europe and the United States, were included since 2010 to 2018, of which the most six in America, and the others from Canada, Portugal, Belgium and other European countries or region. Four were universal tools, not limited to certain diseases and drugs; five were specially appicable forantineoplastic agents; and the other three were appicable for rare diseases/orphan drugs, cardiovascular drugs and hemophilia respectilvely. Two tools——ICER-ERM and PPVF were not only appicable for drugs, but also for new technologies in medical devices and diagnostics. Mainly target users and stakeholders involved physicians, patients, public health decision makers, insurers, manufacturers and etc. Mainly value domains covered clinical benefits, safety/toxicity and cost, other dimensions including disease burden, patient intention, patient self-report results, indirect benefits, drug novelty, unmet need and social value. The core data derived from a prospective randomized controlled trials, especially the key trials approved by the drug regulatory authorities.

CONCLUSIONS : To our knowledge, there is no value assessment tool in China to date. It is neccessary to establish a value index system suitable for our national conditions, with unified definition, comprehensive domains and metrics, objective evidence source and clear result form to assess the value for antineoplastic agents.