Cancer medicines: a private vice for public benefit?

Abstract

Cancer medicines have become one of the most dominant global medical technologies. They generate huge profits for the biopharmaceutical industry as well as fuel the research and advocacy activities of public funders, patient organisations, clinical and scientific communities and entire federal political ecosystems. The mismatch between the price, affordability and value of many cancer medicines and global need has generated significant policy debate, yet we see little change in behaviours from any of the major actors from public research funders through to regulatory authorities. In this policy analysis we examine whether, considering the money and power inherent in this system, any rationale global consensus and policy can be achieved to deliver affordable and equitable cancer medicines that consistently deliver clinically meaningful benefit.

Academia and society should join forces to make anti‐cancer treatments more affordable

“…This not only impairs exploration of new treatment concepts, but in the absence of a proper functioning market (competition), it also leads ‐and has led‐ to an astronomical increase in the price of anti‐cancer medicines due to excessive profit margins [ 9 ]. On the contrary, the health benefits for patients and cost‐effectiveness of medicines is often modest or even non‐existent, as compared to standard of care [ 10 ].…”

“…Small biotech and pharma should be encouraged to participate but without sitting in the driver seat. Now, the system is broken, due to the way it incentivizes investigators, deficiencies in intellectual property legislation that is poorly tuned to medicine development, convoluted registration procedures, and the dominance granted to big pharma: “who pays the piper calls the tune” [ 10 ].…”