Pfizer Offers Hope For Lower-Priced Cancer Drug Combos

Rarely does a week go by without the report of a breakthrough in the race for new cancer treatments. Most amazing have been the results seen with the new immuno-oncology drugs that utilize the immune system to fight tumor growth. But a lot of this excitement has been tempered by the high prices for these drugs. For example, Bristol-Myers has found that a combination of their immuno-oncology drugs, Yervoy and Opdivo, is extremely effective in treating patients with advanced melanoma. Unfortunately, this combination is priced at $256,000 a year per patient.

We are entering an age where many cancers are being effectively treated with drug combinations: drugs that upregulate one’s immune system, drugs that target a specific tumor’s uncontrolled growth, etc. But while these combinations offer the hope of converting cancer from a death sentence to a chronic disease, like diabetes, that can be kept in check with combination therapy, the cost of such combinations is daunting. Will healthcare systems truly be able to afford paying drug expenses on the order of $300,000 or more annually for all of their cancer patients who survive for decades?

Earlier this week, one drug company signaled that they are considering a much more conservative and responsible position.

Speaking at the UBS Healthcare Conference, Ms. Liz Barrett, Pfizer’s Global President and General Manager of Oncology, hit the challenge of cancer drug pricing head on. When talking about combination therapy, she said that as “you are going to have two drugs, three drugs, four drugs, we will have to think about different [pricing] models…” Barrett was pressed on this by the UBS interviewer, Marc Goodman: “I mean each drug costs let’s say $100,000 and you are putting three together, it can’t cost $300,000.” But, she held firm: “No, absolutely.”

Barrett explained that Pfizer feels pretty good about its oncology drug pipeline, believing that it is uniquely positioned. “If you’ve got three drugs, be it two immuno-oncology drugs and a targeted therapy and we own those, our ability to price will be an advantage for us… I think we feel really good about our future and where we are is our ability to be able to have access to multiple medicines and be able to be in a unique position to price them.”

This is a refreshing view and different from that exhibited by Bristol-Myers with its melanoma combination discussed above. If Pfizer holds to this strategy, then it would be hard for other companies like Merck and Novartis , who are also developing combinations, not to follow suit. Such a trend will go a long way to moderating the concerns about ever-escalating prices for cancer therapies. Let’s hope it becomes a reality.

(The author is the former head of Pfizer Global R&D).