The way oncology therapies are valued has not always kept pace with the science. The cancer burden is growing, and the time is now to continue to evolve cancer therapy value assessment to help improve patient access. This consulting report was initiated, reviewed for technical accuracy and funded by AstraZeneca. BCG was commissioned by AstraZeneca to develop this report which outlines seven principles and three recommendations to evolve value assessment of cancer therapies.
The way cancer therapies are valued has not always kept pace with the science. With global cancer incidence estimated to increase from 19.3 million in 2020 to 30.2 million in 2040,1 the time is now to continue to evolve cancer therapy value assessment. A new report, developed in collaboration with BCG and a global cancer expert group, outlines seven principles for payers and regulators to realign value assessment strategies to keep pace with science. This consulting report was initiated, reviewed for technical accuracy and funded by AstraZeneca. BCG was commissioned by AstraZeneca to develop this report.
Timely patient access may be supported by evolving value assessment of cancer therapies
The journey to advance cancer care has seen scientific advances in innovation over the last few decades. Simultaneously, scientific advances in oncology have led to more targeted treatments for patients with the aim to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life.2,3,4
Patient access
For people with cancer to benefit from advancements in early detection and treatment, they need access to innovative treatments. In many countries, after a medicine receives regulatory approval, its value is evaluated to inform reimbursement and access decisions by payers. 5 The clinical effectiveness and safety evidence required by regulators to inform a marketing authorisation decision can differ from the evidence payers use to inform reimbursement and access decisions as part of their value assessment. 5 This can lead to delayed or inconsistent patient access.6
Policy needs to include the full-range of value measures for cancer treatments
To ensure patients and healthcare systems can access and benefit from cancer innovation, the global cancer community needs to continue to evolve how oncology treatments are valued to allow reimbursement to keep pace with science. Patient access to innovative medicines in the early stages of disease not only increases chance of improved outcomes, annual treatment cost-savings from early cancer diagnosis can be immense.7
To help improve access to innovation in cancer therapies we collaborated with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a global expert group representing patient advocates, payers, health economists, regulators, representatives from professional oncology societies and physicians. Thanks to their collective expertise and insight, we are honoured to share a new report, The evolving value assessment of cancer therapies: Seven principles from the cancer community.
The report outlines seven principles: four outline cancer therapy value assessment that could be used for assessing the clinical value of treatments for earlier-stage cancers, and three represent important value components that could be integrated into healthcare system assessments and processes. The report also sets out three recommendations and nine actions for the cancer community to take together toward the goal of improving access to new medicines for early-stage cancer. Read the report The evolving value assessment of cancer therapies: Seven principles from the cancer community here and share with your network.
More needs be done to ensure the scientific advances in innovation over the last few years continue to advance cancer care and reach patients. Patients and physicians should not lose out on innovative treatments that could improve clinical outcomes and quality of life due to rigid value assessments. It is therefore time to evolve Health Technology Assessments (HTA) and payer value assessments to accelerate access to oncology medicines.
Dr Giuseppe Curigliano
Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Milano
As our understanding of cancer grows, we are realising that cancer is a disease that is as unique as we are as humans. As a consequence, we are rapidly developing treatments that are relevant to smaller and smaller patient populations. Validating these treatments as part of the Health Technology Assessment discipline requires new thinking and new metrics. This report is a great step forward in this discussion and articulates a number of sensible and meaningful measures that will facilitate better and more accurate assessments. It offers a pathway to better treatments and better outcomes for those in our community living with cancer
Richard Vines
CEO, Rare Cancers Australia
As a cancer community, we must harness this to collaborate to advance value assessment, so patients have timely access to innovative oncology medicines. Scientific advances in cancer innovation means there is an opportunity to improve patient outcomes, however, patients cannot benefit if barriers in value assessment continue to limit access to oncology medicines.
The cancer burden is growing, with global cancer incidence estimated to increase from 19.3 million in 2020 to 30.2 million in 2040. That is almost 11 million more people diagnosed with cancer in 2040 compared to 2020.1 As a cancer community, in this new report, we are calling on payers and regulators to continue to evolve how oncology medicines are valued to improve access to scientific advances. In turn, early intervention with effective and targeted treatments will both improve patient outcomes and help health systems combat the rising burden of cancer.
Beth Hamilton
Vice President Global Oncology Market Access and Pricing
The consulting report referred to in this article was initiated, reviewed for technical accuracy and funded by AstraZeneca. BCG was commissioned by AstraZeneca to develop this report.
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References
1 World Health Organisation. International Agency for Research on Cancer – Cancer Tomorrow. Available at: http://gco.iarc.fr/tomorrow/en/dataviz/isotype. (Accessed November 2022).
2 Siegel RL., Miller KD., Fuchs HE., Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2022. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;72(1):7-33. Available at: http://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21708. (Accessed November 2022).
3 Canadian Cancer Society. Canadian Cancer Statistics. Available at: http://cancer.ca/en/research/cancer-statistics/canadian-cancer-statistics. (Accessed November 2022).
4 Rose PW., Rubin G., Perera-Salazar R., et al. Explaining variation in cancer survival between 11 jurisdictions in the international Cancer Benchmarking Partnership: a primary care vignette survey participants: 2795 PCPs in 11 jurisdictions. BMJ Open. 2014. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007212. (Accessed November 2022).
5 Ciani, O., et al. Med Decis Making. 2021: 41(4)
6 EFPIA. Everyday counts. http://www.efpia.eu/news-events/the-efpia-view/blog-articles/everyday-counts-9-reasons-why-patients-wait-longer-to-get-access-to-new-cancer-medicines/. (Accessed Nov 2022).
7 Kakushadze, Z., et al. Estimating cost savings from early cancer diagnosis. Data. 2017. 2(3): 30. Available at: http://doi.org/10.3390/data2030030. (Accessed November 2022).
Veeva ID: Z4-50243
Date of preparation: November 2022