A new report from Cancer Trials Ireland has estimated national cost savings of €14.8m over four years from a sample of 18 cancer trials involving 249 patients, with 13 Cork patients involved in two trials estimated to have contributed €800,000 of that figure.
According to the organisation, the report, ‘The Value of Cancer Clinical Trials’, demonstrates the value that investment in cancer clinical trials brings to patients, the health service, and the wider Irish economy by not only improving patient outcomes, but by also saving the HSE money in treatment costs, and attracting additional inward investment.
Following on the analysis, Cancer Trials Ireland is calling for a significant increase in Government investment in cancer clinical trials and increased funding for Cancer Trials Ireland itself.
Patients Do Better, State Does Better
“The evidence is clear and undisputed – patients on clinical trials do better,” said Angela Clayton-Lea, CEO of Cancer Trials Ireland. “Cancer trials save lives. They bring access to new treatments that are otherwise unavailable to patients in Ireland, and they bring increased oversight for patients through more scans, tests and follow-up with their medical consultant, research nurse and medical team. These are the factors that improve patient outcomes.
“Beyond patient outcomes, as this report demonstrates, cancer trials generate tangible financial savings for the State. Despite this, Ireland continues to lag comparable countries such as Switzerland, Denmark, and even less wealthy countries like Finland, both in the scale of our investment and overall clinical trial activity.”
Promoting Inward Investment
In addition to savings, trials attract inward non-Governmental investments in patients through the provision of high-value new investigational medicinal products supplied by sponsors, often pharmaceutical companies, at no cost to the State. A sample of six trials by Cancer Trials Ireland over four years estimates that trial sponsors have invested €36.7m in such products.
“Investing in cancer trials means better outcomes for patients, lower costs for the HSE, and stronger foundations for Ireland’s research and innovation economy,” Ms Clayton-Lea added.
Cancer Trials Ireland is partly funded by the Health Research Board and the Irish Cancer Society.
