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US Patients Get Cancer Drugs Faster and Pay More

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"Between 2000 and 2011, new oncology drug approvals in the U.S. outpaced European approvals by 33%. At the same time, prices for cancer medications in Europe, on average, were 9% lower than in the U.S., according to a new report from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development."

Ed Silverman, Pharmalot

File this under the "big trade off." Between 2000 and 2011, new oncology drug approvals in the U.S. outpaced European approvals by 33%. But at the same time, prices for cancer medications in Europe, on average, were 9% lower than in the U.S., according to a new report from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, which attempted to gauge how comparative effectiveness research influences the use of pharmaceuticals in providing care.

When it comes to cost, Tufts noted patient cost-sharing is much lower in Europe than in the U.S., where the average co-insurance rate per covered drug was 33%, suggesting "U.S. patients are responsible for copayments of hundreds to thousands of dollars per prescription or treatment cycle," Tufts writes. For example, insurance coverage ranged from 46% in the UK to 98% in the U.S., although this did not take into account patient assistance programs. . .View Full Article


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