Frank R. Lichtenberg, Professor at Columbia University: “Life expectancy of cancer patients in Spain has increased by almost three years in the last decade thanks to the use of innovative drugs”.
The US expert unpacked the data from his study on the relationship between pharmaceutical innovation and cancer mortality in Spain between 1999 and 2016 in a webinar organised by Farmaindustria.
“The use of new cancer drugs in this period managed to reduce cancer deaths in Spain by almost 30%, more than 42,000 people,” said Lichtenberg.
Oncologist Nils Wilking, from the Karolinska Institute, backed up Professor Lichtenberg’s data: “We are achieving the greatest impact in reducing cancer mortality thanks to pharmaceutical innovation”.
Núria Mas, professor in the Department of Economics at IESE Business School, called for more studies of this type in Spain: “Thanks to studies of this type we can check not only the effectiveness, but also the efficiency of investment in innovation with real-life data”.
farmaindustria.es
Professor Frank R. Lichtenberg, Professor of Economics at Columbia University (USA), has analysed in a scientific study the relationship between pharmaceutical innovation and cancer mortality in Spain for more than 15 years, specifically between 1999 and 2016. The conclusions of this research were recently published in the journal Value in Health and this week the US professor had the opportunity to present the most relevant data in a webinar organised by Farmaindustria to which more than 400 people connected.
The main conclusion of the study, according to Lichtenberg, is that, although the incidence of cancer cases in our country is increasing, deaths from this cause are decreasing thanks to the incorporation of new innovative drugs. Specifically, pharmaceutical innovation managed to reduce cancer deaths by almost 30% in the period analysed. “Spain recorded 42,132 fewer cancer deaths than expected in 2016, the last year of the study, i.e. a 29.2% reduction in the number of deaths” he said. “After analysing up to 58 different types of cancer, the study shows that those cancers that have had the most pharmaceutical innovation in that period are the ones that had the greatest reductions in mortality,” he added.
Lichtenberg also measured the impact on the life expectancy of cancer patients in Spain and concluded that life expectancy had increased by an average of almost three years in the period analysed due to the action of these drugs. “The arrival of new cancer drugs has managed to increase the life expectancy of cancer patients, delaying the average age of death in Spain by 2.77 years in the period analysed, from 70.9 to 73.7 years”.
Return on investment in innovation
The US expert also studied the efficiency for Spain of investment in pharmaceutical innovation in the period studied. Lichtenberg concludes that investment in research and development of new drugs is linked to a high direct benefit to patients’ health, at a low cost. “Spain spent a total of 1.09 billion euros on authorised cancer drugs between 2000 and 2016. Taking into account this figure and the increase in the years of life of these patients during this period, each year of life gained has had a cost for healthcare of 3,269 euros, which means a high efficiency in this investment,” he said. In addition, the new medicines have generated savings in other budget items in the health system and for society in general. All these impacts should be considered in a more comprehensive analysis of the social value of these innovations.
Swedish oncologist Nils Wilking from the Karolinska Institute also participated in the webinar. He backed up Professor Lichtenberg’s data with his clinical experience. “The approach to cancer is also influenced by prevention and early diagnosis for early detection. But the main factor in reducing mortality is undoubtedly pharmaceutical innovation,” he said.
For her part, Núria Mas, professor in the Department of Economics at the IESE Business School, praised Professor Lichtenberg’s work and called for more studies of this type to be able to verify the efficiency of these investments. “It is very important for a country like Spain, where the economic issue of adopting innovation is so important, to have studies of this type in which we can see the efficiency of this investment, with real-life data.
Along these lines, the director general of Farmaindustria, Juan Yermo, encouraged experts to carry out more studies of this type. “Since 2016, the year in which this work was completed, a lot of pharmaceutical innovation has fortunately arrived in our country. It would be good to also have analyses of this type since that date. We all have to contribute to improving the quality of life of cancer patients and studies of this kind also help in this task,” he said.
