The Economics of Funding New Cancer Drugs

This thesis presents an economic analysis of factors influencing HTA drug funding decision-making for "high-cost" cancer drugs. Four research questions are considered. Literature review identifies the factors prioritized by payers, public and patients in funding decision-making for new cancer drugs. An empirical analysis then identifies the factors prioritized by Scotland in decision-making. The third empirical analysis applies survival analysis to identifies factors which increase or decrease time to a positive recommendation. The final analyses test if uptake of Risk Sharing Agreements significantly increases access to publicly-funded cancer drugs, and identifies the conditions which facilitate a Risk-sharing agreement.