Novel therapeutics.

CURRENT

Development and Pilot Testing of a Prioritization Tool to Ensure Equitable Allocation of CAR T-Cellular Therapy – (ENACT).

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies are quickly changing the landscape of cancer treatment. This class of anti-cancer treatment uses customized patient cells, or donated and engineered cells, and gene editing techniques, which offer patients with advanced or refractory cancer new hope for overcoming their disease. Increasing patient demand for cellular therapies, however, is frustrated by the high cost of manufacturing cell products and limited highly specialized expertise and institutional resources. This situation requires an ethical framework and priority-setting process to guide fair allocation of limited healthcare system resources.

The purpose of this 18-month study is to develop, refine, and evaluate a prioritization tool. The tool will enable clinicians to make fair and equitable decisions about patient prioritization to cellular therapies (i.e. CAR T-cell).

Assisting clinicians in allocating CAR T-cell therapies based on an ethical framework and fair priority setting process will support just and equitable patient access, thereby enhancing the delivery of compassionate care and ethical practice.

2016-2020

Exploration of Colorectal Cancer Patient Values and Preferences to Inform Funding Decisions about New and Emerging Oncology Drug Therapies.

The high costs of cancer drugs and low levels of pharmaceutical research and development in Canada have increased pressure on the healthcare system to adopt value models when considering drug reimbursement or coverage as well as treatment choices. While there are many stakeholders in the healthcare system, the perspective of patients is central to the definition of value, yet, it is likely the least understood and most difficult to measure. The proposed project addresses this issue by developing a framework to objectively incorporate patient preferences into the cancer drug HTA decision-making process in Canada.

The aim of this project (phase 2 interviews) was to gather patient and caregiver perspectives using in-depth, open-ended interviews, exploring how patient values and experiences inform their preferences for oncology drug treatments.