Study: Cancer drugs less affordable in poor nations than US

Cancer drugs predictably cost much more in the US than in poor countries and even other wealthy nations, but a study shows they are less affordable in some developing countries despite the lower price.
Relative to their ability to pay, cancer patients in China and India face much higher prices than wealthier US patients, according to the research released today. Australia had the most affordable prices, for both cancer medicines under patent and less-expensive generics.
The pilot study examined list prices, also called retail prices, and affordability in Australia, China, India, Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa.

But what is actually paid in most countries is usually much lower because of discounts and rebates manufacturers give insurers and health programs. Those net prices are usually kept secret by drugmakers and their customers, so they weren't available to the researchers.
Also, the countries have varying government and private health insurance programs, so how much of the medicines' costs patients actually bear is unknown.
Lead researcher Dr. Daniel A. Goldstein, of Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, presented the findings Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.
"The retail prices are lower in places like India than in the US (but) they're still less affordable than in the US," Goldstein said in an interview.

He and colleagues analyzed eight drugs covered by patent and 15 generic ones for which retail prices were available in all seven countries, according to the standard monthly dose.