Our health care ecosystem has made tremendous progress in the fight against cancer, with the cancer death rate falling 32% from its peak in 1991.
ICYMI: PhRMA COO Lori Reilly Esq. speaks with Jacob Van Naarden about the future of cancer research.
Our health care ecosystem has made tremendous progress in the fight against cancer, with the cancer death rate falling 32% from its peak in 1991. On November 3, PhRMA sponsored The Atlantic’s People v. Cancer event, hosting the session PhRMA Presents: The Future of Fighting Cancer. PhRMA’s COO Lori Reilly, Esq., spoke with Eli Lilly and Company’s Jacob Van Naarden, CEO of Loxo@Lilly, about the incredible advancements made in cancer treatment.
Innovation in cancer treatments happens all the time. Take breast cancer, for example. Just this summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first targeted treatment to extend survival in patients with HER2 low advanced cancer that can't be removed surgically or that has spread elsewhere in the body. And today, there are more than 100 medicines in development to help patients fight breast cancer that are pushing the bounds of scientific discovery.
But, as we look to the future of fighting cancer, the partisan Inflation Reduction Act jeopardizes this innovation. The law disincentivizes post-approval research and development. That could have impacts on patients with cancer, because nearly 60% of oncology medicines approved a decade ago receiving additional indications for other types of cancer.
Post-approval research and development plays a crucial role in the search for lifesaving treatments and cures and needs to be protected. Without policies that reward and incentivize innovation, progress in the fight against cancer will suffer.
