OBJECTIVES: The objective is to analyze whether cancer drugs are less or more expensive in Algeria than in 7 other countries in the world (Morocco, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, United States and Malaysia).

METHODS: Based on the economic situation and the high prices of oncology medicines, we chose to survey official list prices at ex-factory level for 17 originator cancer drugs (breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer) from the in-patient sector in Algeria and 7 countries from inside (France and Turkey) and outside its country basket for IRP as of April 2017. Drug data were provided by official websites except for Algeria where a questionnaire has been completed from representatives of the ministry of health. The prices of these drugs were compared per unit (i.e. per vial). Malaysia turned out to be an unreliable comparator because of the extreme variability of price data. Therefore, we decided to exclude it from our study.

RESULTS: The study showed that there is a large disparity between the lowest and the highest priced drug ranging from 31% to 812%. The United States had all drug prices in the fourth quartile (100%), followed by Brazil (57%). Prices ranking most frequently in the first quartile were observed in Algeria (59%), Morocco (44%) and France (20%). Overall, in Algeria prices ranked at a low level; whereas US had the most expensive prices.

CONCLUSIONS: The large disparity in medicines prices is likely to result from national health policies. However, the prices surveyed do not include discounts because these are confidential. Since IRP is based on the official list prices, even if Algeria’s prices are the lowest, the funding organizations risk overpaying. Therefore, changes in the Algerian pricing policy by moving to risk sharing agreements may be a serious option to have more attractive prices.