Trends in the Price per Median and Mean Life-Year Gained Among Newly Approved Cancer Therapies 1995 to 2017

Dec 1, 2019, 00:00
10.1016/j.jval.2019.08.005
https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(19)32349-6/fulltext
Title : Trends in the Price per Median and Mean Life-Year Gained Among Newly Approved Cancer Therapies 1995 to 2017
Citation : https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/action/showCitFormats?pii=S1098-3015(19)32349-6&doi=10.1016/j.jval.2019.08.005
First page : 1387
Section Title : HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS
Open access? : No
Section Order : 1387

Background

The prices of newly approved cancer drugs have risen over the past decades. A key policy question is whether the clinical gains offered by these drugs in treating specific cancer indications justify the price increases.

Objectives

To evaluate the price per median and mean life year gained among newly approved cancer therapies from 1995 to 2017.

Methods

We collected data on the price (in 2017 USD) per life-year gained among cancer drug-indication pairs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1995 and 2017. We modeled trends using fractional polynomial and linear spline regression models that controlled for route of administration and cancer type fixed effects.

Results

We found that between 1995 and 2012, price increases outstripped median survival gains, a finding consistent with previous literature. Nevertheless, price per mean life-year gained increased at a considerably slower rate, suggesting that new drugs have been more effective in achieving longer-term survival. Between 2013 and 2017, price increases reflected equally large gains in median and mean survival, resulting in a flat profile for benefit-adjusted launch prices in recent years.

Conclusions

Although drug costs have been rising more rapidly than median survival gains, they have been rising at about the same rate as mean survival gains. This suggests that when accounting for longer-term survival gains, the benefits of new drugs are roughly keeping pace with their costs, despite rapid cost growth.

Categories :
  • Health Policy & Regulatory
  • Methodological & Statistical Research
  • Modeling and simulation
  • Oncology
  • Pricing Policy & Schemes
  • Specific Diseases & Conditions
Tags :
  • cancer drug
  • cost
  • mean life-year gained
  • median life-year gained
  • price trends
  • survival
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