Evaluating national pricing policies of innovative anti-cancer drugs: correlation analysis between costs and survival in 15 European countries

Valutazione Della Politica di Pricing Dei Farmaci Oncologici Innovativi: Correlazione Tra Costi e Sopravvivenza in 15 Paesi Europei

Abstract

Introduction In recent years, public health systems in Europe have faced the challenge of sustainability in different ways. The aim of this study is to analyse the pricing policies of 15 European countries by studying the correlation between cost and survival of a series of anti-cancer drugs. Methods Our study assessed nine anti-cancer drugs licensed by EMA in the last decade. Clinical benefits, measured as overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS), were obtained from EPAR or randomized controlled trials, while nominal and real prices in the 15 different countries (including discounts) were derived from a published study. We performed a correlation analysis between cost and OS for each indication of any given drug. Results Only two countries (Hungary and Lithuania) demonstrated a strong correlation coefficient in the OS analysis. The PFS analysis has shown better results with 12 countries, with R values higher than 0.20. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in which the correlation between costs and outcomes has been studied in a large number of countries. Our results showed that, in these countries, prices had generally a poor correlation with OS and a better correlation with PFS.