The Price of Innovative Anticancer Drugs

Many new anticancer drugs enter the market at a relatively high price. Some healthcare authorities have made the rare decision not to fund new anticancer drugs due to their high prices. Decision-makers fear that these expensive new anticancer drugs are not generating net social benefits. The following work investigates the relationship between prices and clinical benefits of anticancer drugs that have come to market over the past decade. We show that the relationship between drug prices and clinical benefits is not linear. In fact, modern drug prices appear to rise exponentially. Drug manufacturers explain their pricing strategy with concerns towards the high cost of innovating in the pharmaceutical industry. Accordingly, a discussion of innovation in anticancer research is included. The discussion also provides insight into cancer control in the upcoming generation of personalized medicines. The aim is to gain an understanding of the social benefits received from these innovative new treatments.