A study presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago has revealed large differences in median retail prices for 23 oncology drugs between seven countries, with the highest prices being in the United States and the lowest in South Africa.
Implications | The study found that, despite the high retail list prices in the United States, in the context of per-capita GDP oncology drugs were least affordable in China and India. |
Outlook | Although the study provides a valuable insight into the pricing and affordability of oncology drugs, it takes no account of countries' health insurance systems, which determine how much of costs are borne by patients. |
Researchers from Rabin Medical Center in Petah-Tikvah, Israel, have conducted a study into the pricing of monthly drug doses for 15 generic and eight patented oncology drugs for a wide range of cancer types and stages in seven countries: Australia, China, India, Israel, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The retail (list) prices of the oncology drugs were derived mainly from government websites.
According to the study, the median monthly retail price of patented drugs ranged from USD1,515 in India to USD8,694 in the United States. For generics, the price ranged from USD120 in South Africa to USD654 in the United States.
The study also evaluated the affordability of the drugs, based on each country's per-capita GDP. Using this measure, oncology drugs were most affordable in Australia, where the price of generics corresponded to 3% of per-capita GDP and patented drugs 71%. The countries where oncology drugs were least affordable were China and India, where generics were priced at 48% and 33% respectively of per-capita GDP, and patented drugs at 288% and 313% (see table).
Australia | China | India | South Africa | UK | US | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median generic monthly prices (USD) | 226 | 532 | 159 | 120 | 458 | 654 |
Median patented monthly prices (USD) | 2,741 | 3,173 | 1,515 | 1,708 | 2,587 | 8,694 |
GDP per capita (USD) | 46,550 | 13,324 | 5,808 | 13,094 | 39,826 | 54,370 |
Generic median monthly price as % of GDP per capita | 3 | 48 | 33 | 11 | 14 | 14 |
Patented median monthly price as % of GDP per capita | 71 | 288 | 313 | 157 | 78 | 192 |
Source: Rabin Medical Center ASCO presentation, June 2016 | ||||||
The full abstract of the study is available here.
Outlook and implications
Although the study provides a valuable insight into the pricing and affordability of oncology drugs, it does not take into account the health insurance systems of the various countries, which would determine how much of costs are borne by patients.
In the case of the United States, the high price of oncology drugs relative to other developed countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom will add to widespread criticism that drugs are too expensive, although list prices in the United States are often heavily discounted. Recent criticism of US oncology drug pricing includes a report by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) on the cost-effectiveness of the new generation of multiple myeloma (MM) drugs. (see United States: 14 June 2016: Final ICER report on multiple myeloma criticises pricing and drug approval process).
Looking beyond the oncology sector, earlier this year the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) forecast that US prescription drug spending will continue to outstrip overall health spending over the next few years (see United States: 15 March 2016: HHS predicts growth in US prescription drug spending will continue to outstrip overall health spending).