Combination pricing: access to the future of oncology treatment relies on collaboration

Combination therapies are fast becoming the cornerstone of cancer treatment: not just in the UK, but across the world. With strong evidence to support how two or more medicines can work simultaneously to target different pathways in numerous ways, it’s clear that these kinds of treatments are vital in helping to change the way people live with complex diseases like cancer.

With more than 300 active clinical trials for combination therapies in cancer currently in progress in the UK alone, we can expect that the prevalence of combination treatments will continue to increase over time, and, with that, so will our understanding of their efficacy and impact on long-term patient outcomes.

This is an incredibly exciting time for the clinical and patient community. There is increasing evidence to show that combination therapies can extend disease-free or progression-free survival for those living with certain cancers, as well as reduce the risk of tumours developing resistance to treatment. However, multiple unresolved issues around the value, assessment, pricing and funding of treatments used in combination remain.

In my role as head of market access at Sanofi UK and Ireland, I strive to address challenges around matching treatment value to patient access, and I am passionate about delivering evidence to ensure patients can receive the most appropriate treatments for their condition. But the issue around pricing and reimbursement of combination therapies within the current healthcare system isn’t something I – or the pharmaceutical industry – can resolve in isolation.

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