BACKGROUND: Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality and morbidity across Europe with more than 3.7 million new cases and 1.9 million deaths per year. The age-standardized rate for all cancers in UK, Germany, and France was 340 - 350 per 100,000 in 2018. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer (CRC), and ovarian cancer (OC) are the most common cancers.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this research was to understand the recommendations, reimbursement decisions, and assessment variations across 3 EU HTA agencies among 19 therapies indicated for 3 forms of cancer.

METHODS: Secondary research was conducted to identify therapies approved for use in NSCLC, CRC, and OC in the last 10 years along with the respective treatment line. Publicly available HTA information was collected from the national authority websites of UK (NICE), Germany (G-BA), and France (HAS).

RESULTS: A total of 19 therapies were analyzed (37% recommended; 32% recommended conditionally; 26% no HTA submissions; 5% HTA ongoing). The share of positive HTA recommendations without any restrictions was 37% for UK, 16% for Germany, and 58% for France. The share of reimbursed drugs was 42% in UK, 79% in Germany, and 37% in France. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the agreement between recommendations and reimbursement status was 0.58 for UK and 0.52 for France.

CONCLUSIONS: The HTA recommendations for NSCLC, CRC, and OC drastically vary among France, UK, and Germany. It is imperative to understand each system and tailor the clinical development strategy for novel therapies to the requirement nuances in the major EU markets to achieve optimal HTA decisions.