Last week, researchers at Rabin Medical Center in Petah-Tikvah, Israel, presented a study of cancer drug prices in seven countries at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago.
Here are six things to know about the report:
- The study included drug prices from Australia, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States.
- Researchers calculated monthly drug doses for 15 generic and eight name-brand cancer drugs used to treat a variety of cancer types and stages.
- India and South Africa had the lowest drug prices.
- After calculating price as a percentage of wealth adjusted for the cost of living, researchers deemed cancer drugs least affordable in India and China. Drugs were most affordable in Australia.
- The United States pays the highest amount for cancer drugs. Generic drugs were priced at 14 percent of wealth adjusted for the cost of living, while patented cancer drugs were 192 percent of the same measure.
- Global spending on cancer medicine will exceed $150 billion by 2020, fueled by the development of expensive new therapies that help the immune system attack tumors, according to a report from IMS Health Holdings.
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