Do innovative medicines against cancer always have a real added value?
KCE Reports 343 (2021)
During the past twenty years, a number of cancer treatments considered innovative have been introduced, such as monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapies. But what exactly should we expect from a new cancer treatment? That it prolongs life and/or that it improves quality of life. That is an essential condition we would expect to see from a new treatment before we can reimburse it, especially since the costs of these innovative treatments are increasing: whereas, in 2007, the health insurance industry paid out around €140 million for such costs, in 2019, that figure exceeded €1 billion.
At the request of NIHDI, and in collaboration with the Fondation Registre du Cancer [Belgian Cancer Registry], KCE analysed the extent to which the use of these new treatments (for 12 types of cancer) had actually contributed to prolonging the lives of the Belgian patients to whom they had been administered since 2004. KCE then compared these results with the amounts paid out for these treatments by the Belgian health insurance industry over the same 15-year period. The results were disappointing.
KCE argues in favour of a more transparent system which places greater emphasis on the real added value for the patient of each new treatment. In this way, the limited resources of the health insurance industry can be used more responsibly and more effectively.
How to refer to this report