Editorial : pharmaceutical policy, impact and health outcomes

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Kwon, Hye-Young and Godman, Brian (2023) Editorial : pharmaceutical policy, impact and health outcomes. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 14. 1150055. ISSN 1663-9812 (https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1150055)

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Abstract

Pharmaceutical policy is essential given increasing expenditure on medicines and only finite resources, with global expenditure on medicines estimated to reach US$1.5 trillion by the end of 2023 (1). This represents an annual compounded growth rate of 3–6% a year in recent years, driven by increasing prevalence of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) with ageing populations and resultant increase in medicine use alongside the increasing costs of new medicines especially for orphan diseases and cancer (2-5). The cost of cancer care is a particular issue with world-wide sales of oncology medicines expected to reach $237 billion by 2024, and continue growing (4). This increase is driven by the increasing prevalence rates of patients with cancer alongside the increasing costs of new oncology medicines, with requested prices per life year gained for new oncology medicines rising four-fold or more during the past years after adjusting for inflation (4). This increase is exacerbated by the emotive nature of the disease area (6). These growth rates though are unsustainable leading to greater scrutiny over the cost and value of new oncology medicines, which will continue (4

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