Rising cost of anticancer drugs in Australia

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Oncology
• Pharmaceutical Policy

Background:

• Rising costs of anticancer drugs impact cancer care affordability.
• Concerns exist regarding the effect of increasing drug prices on access to new cancer therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze recent trends in anticancer drug costs within Australia.
• To quantify changes in expenditure and pricing for anticancer medications.

Main Methods:

• Review of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) expenditure and prices for anticancer drugs (2000-2012).
• Analysis of total PBS expenditure and average price per prescription.
• Calculation of estimated monthly treatment costs for newly listed anticancer drugs.

Main Results:

• Annual PBS expenditure on anticancer drugs surged from A$65 million to A$466 million (19% annual increase).
• The average PBS price per anticancer drug prescription, inflation-adjusted, rose by 133% (A$337 to A$786).
• New anticancer drugs had a median monthly treatment cost of A$4919 in 2012.

Conclusions:

• Substantial increases in PBS expenditure and anticancer drug prices occurred in Australia (2000-2012).
• Managing these escalating costs presents a significant challenge for the Australian health system and cancer patients.