197
Volume 5, Issue 10: Special Issue
(EJAR)
ISSN: 2181-2020
MPHAPP
THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL
CONFERENCE “MODERN PHARMACEUTICS: ACTUAL
PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS”
TASHKENT, OCTOBER 17, 2025
in-academy.uz
HIGH-COST ANTICANCER DRUGS: CLINICAL BENEFIT OR FINANCIAL
BURDEN FOR THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM?
Rikhsie a O.G.
Rajabo a N.Kh.
Tashken Pha maceu ical Ins i u e, Tashken ci y, Republic o Uzbekis an
e-mail: [email p o ec ed]
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17332721
Rele ance: he g owing numbe o inno a i e bu expensi e an icance d ugs imposes a
signi ican bu den on heal hca e sys ems. Many o hese medicines a e app o ed unde accele a ed
p ocedu es wi h a limi ed e idence base and o en ail o demons a e a clinically meaning ul
addi ional e ec , aising doub s abou he a ionali y o hei use.
Objec i e o he s udy: o conduc a ma ke analysis o an icance d ugs app o ed by he
Eu opean Medicines Agency be ween 1995 and 2020, ocusing on he assessmen o hei p o en
clinical e ec i eness, compa ison wi h ma ke cos s, and de e mina ion o payback pe iods.
Ma e ials and me hods: a e iew o an icance d ugs app o ed du ing he speci ied pe iod
was ca ied ou , wi h analysis o he le el o e idence o hei clinical bene i and he imelines o
ecouping esea ch and de elopmen cos s. Addi ionally, examples o a ional use o high-cos d ugs
we e conside ed (in pa icula , he SONIA s udy on HR+/HER2– b eas cance ).
Resul s: he analysis showed ha a signi ican p opo ion o new an icance d ugs app o ed by
he Eu opean Medicines Agency be ween 1995 and 2020 did no demons a e a subs an ial addi ional
clinical bene i compa ed o exis ing s anda ds o he apy. This was especially cha ac e is ic o
molecules egis e ed unde accele a ed o condi ional app o al p ocedu es: hei e ec i eness was
o en con i med on he basis o su oga e endpoin s (e.g., umo sh inkage o disease p og ession)
a he han su i al da a o imp o emen in quali y o li e. F om an economic pe spec i e, mo e han
90% o such d ugs ecoup de elopmen cos s wi hin 8 yea s, wi h a median payback pe iod o only
3–4 yea s, e lec ing he high p o i abili y o his ma ke segmen . Howe e , his does no always
co espond o p opo ional pa ien bene i . An example is he SONIA s udy (Sequen ial e sus
Op imal s a egy o ea men wi h New gene a ion a oma ase Inhibi o s in Ad anced b eas cance ),
which demons a ed ha op imizing he iming o expensi e d ug use (e.g., de e ing hei
adminis a ion o la e lines o he apy) can esul in signi ican cos sa ings wi hou wo sening
clinical ou comes.
Conclusions: he e is a gap be ween egula o y app o al p ocedu es and he ac ual clinical
bene i o pa ien s. Policies a e needed o encou age he de elopmen o genuinely meaning ul
medicines and he mo e a ional use o high-cos d ugs. O he wise, heal hca e sys ems isk being
o e whelmed by he inancial bu den o an icance d ugs wi hou p o en addi ional bene i .
