Marcia Palmer, Allen W. Becker, Anthony Chiefari, Howard Deutsch, Nicolle Hamilton, ZS Associates
Overview
Oncology treatment increasingly involves combinations of novel oral and biologic drugs. While combo approaches aren’t new, there are significant cost implications of combining high priced innovator drugs (versus older, generic chemotherapies).
Payers are in a difficult spot regarding the cost and management of these regimens. Traditional utilization management tools are still difficult to apply in oncology, given no payer wants to be on the front page of a major newspaper for denying treatment. Pathways have not held up to their promise for containing cost.
Personalized medicine approaches such as biomarkers serve an important role in targeting therapy to the most appropriate patients, thereby reigning in cost. However, there are limitations in the breadth and utility of these tools. For example, PD-1/PDL-1 drugs have shown conflicting outcomes associated with receptor expression – and these drugs are the backbone for many combo regimen programs in clinical development.
Environment/perception shifts, new approaches to management, indication-based pricing or other novel pricing approaches, and innovative payment models may hold promise for controlling cost in this new era of combination therapy.
Focus
Join ZS Associates for a live expert payer panel discussion on the challenges and potential solutions for managing the cost of combo oncology regimens. Topics will include:
•Perspectives on oncology drug management and combination regimen pricing today
•Potential payer-driven and pharma-driven solutions to price and cost management for oncology combo regimens
•What oncology manufacturers should consider in engaging payers in the future
The live payer webinar, co-moderated by Nicolle Hamilton, ZS Associates and Dominic Tyer, pharmaphorum, will take place on Wednesday, October 30 2019 from 14:00-15:15 GMT/10:00-11:15 ET.