Researchers call for an overhaul of licensing and funding of anti-cancer drugs

Prohibitive costs often exclude patients from accessing newly approved drugs to treat their genitourinary (GU) cancers. Yet, these rising costs may be unrelated to effectiveness: only 52% of newly approved regimens for GU cancer have demonstrated superior overall survival (OS) outcomes compared with previously approved therapies.

In the current study, presented by Dr David O’Reilly (Cork University Hospital, Ireland), the ease and cost were assessed of acquisition of newly approved systemic anti-cancer therapies (SACT) for patients with GU cancer [1]. Data was collected on licensing and reimbursement by public health insurance of all new GU cancer therapies that had been approved by the FDA between 2010 and 2020 and the relationship between cost of SACT and OS benefit was analysed.

Of 29 investigated regimens, the FDA approved 26 new regimens for GU cancer therapy during this 10-year period. Only 15/29 (52%) of these therapies were associated with a prolonged OS period; 6/29 (21%) were associated with neither prolonged OS nor progression-free survival. Furthermore, androgen receptor signalling inhibitors were more likely to have a proven OS benefit and they had a lower mean cost than non-androgen receptor signalling inhibitors. In the US, no association was found between OS benefit and price of the drug regimen (P=0.445). Regimens known to prolong OS were not more expensive than those that did not.

Of the 29 studied regimens, 21 (72%) were approved by the EMA and 12 were reimbursed in the UK, compared with only 6 in Ireland. Dr O’Reilly recommended a new approach towards the licensing and public funding of drug therapy to promote fairer access to the most efficacious drug regimes.

1. O’Reilly D. Value for money in genitourinary oncology. Abstract 1, ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, 11–13 February 2021.

 

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Posted on 24 March 202118 June 2021