Photo by Steven Harbour
AMSTERDAM—The UK has seen substantial price increases for some generic cancer drugs over the last few years, according to a study presented at ECCO 2017: European Cancer Congress (abstract 966).
Of the 89 drugs analyzed in this study, 21 of them—including 17 generics—had price increases from 2011 to 2016.
Fourteen of the generic cancer drugs had price increases over 100%, and 2 of the drugs had increases exceeding 1000%.
“We were surprised to find several companies consistently raising the prices of cancer treatment,” said study investigator Andrew Hill, PhD, of the University of Liverpool in the UK.
“Twenty treatments have shown rises of over 100% in the last 5 years, and in 2—busulfan (used to treat leukemia) and tamoxifen (breast cancer)—prices have increased by over 1000%. We have found that some companies take over the supply of some generic cancer medicines and then raise the price progressively.”
Dr Hill and his co-investigator Melissa Barber, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK, analyzed prices for 190 formulations of 89 cancer drugs.
Twenty-eight formulations of 21 drugs had price increases from 2011 to 2016. Seventeen of these 21 drugs were generic in 2016.
Twenty formulations of 14 generic cancer drugs had price increases exceeding 100%.
For example, the cost per tablet or injection increased for:
- Ifosfamide (2 g vial)—from £89 to £180, or 103%.
- Melphalan (50 mg vial)—from £33 to £137, or 315%.
- Chlorambucil (2 mg)—from £0.33 to £1.62, or 390%.
- Cyclophosphamide (50 mg)—from £0.20 to £1.39, or 695%.
- Busulfan (2 mg)—from £0.21 to £2.61, or 1227%.
Dr Hill said the UK’s Department of Health is aware of this issue and has introduced the Health Services Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill to enable price regulation in the future.
Companies found to be raising prices with no clear justification will be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority, and they could face fines.
However, Dr Hill and Barber said they found large price increases for generic cancer drugs in other European countries as well.
In Spain and Italy, failure to accept the high prices demanded for some generic drugs has led to warnings from companies that they could stop the supply of these drugs.
For instance, Italy fined the generic company Aspen €5 million after a 1500% increase in the price of cancer drugs, including melphalan and chlorambucil. Aspen then threatened Italy with drug shortages unless higher prices were accepted.
In Spain, Aspen demanded a 4000% increase in melphalan prices.
“We hope that, by explaining what we have found in the UK, other European countries will take note and protect themselves against these kinds of price rises,” Dr Hill said. “At a time when cancer patients are living longer and better lives due to effective treatments, this situation is particularly worrying.”
