Abstract

Cancer drug prices are rising faster than the prices in other sectors of health care, drawing concern from patients,physicians, and policy researchers. We found little difference in the median wholesale price of 21 novel drugs and 30 next-in-class drugs approved over a 5-yearperiod. Our results suggest that the price of cancer drugs is independent of novelty. Additionally, we found little difference in price among drugs approved based on time-to-event end points and drugs approved on the basis of RR. Our results suggest that current pricing models are not rational but simply reflect what the market will bear.

Keywords: High-risk research; Canadian data; Cancer treatment; Treatment options; Patient utilities; Total benefits