The global market for cancer drugs has recently hit $100 billion in annual sales. According to a new report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics by 2018 the global market could reach $147 billion.
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics is a unit of drug data provider IMS Health.
The $147 billion figure does not include discounts or rebates paid to insurers and government programs. IMS asserts that in the case of cancer drugs, discounts and rebates should not make a big difference to the overall figure.
Innovation is transforming the landscape for providers, for patient and for the companies bringing these products to market.
The report highlighted that cancer patients are living longer. In 1990, half of cancer patients survived for five years after diagnosis, now about two-thirds of patients diagnosed survive.
The report also discussed the expenditure on cancer drugs as an absolute amount. Data showed that therapeutic oncology drug spending per capita had the largest increase on a percentage bases in the U.K and the lowest in Spain. However, Europe spends more on cancer drugs as a percentage of total spending on medicines.
IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics believes that next there will be a flood of cancer-drug-combinations. Roche is currently developing the biggest number of combinations by a wide margin. Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Novartis are next in line as the developing the biggest number of combinations.
This means that if a cancer drug is approved anywhere, it is most likely to be approved in the U.S.
Unfortunately, all these new cancer drugs come at an economic price. The cost per month for a new cancer drug has increased 40% over the past decade.
Due to the increased economic price, more and more of these costs are being borne directly by patients themselves, not just insurance companies.
