2. UroToday Home
  3. Recent Abstracts
  4. Urologic Oncology
  5. Prostate Cancer

Projected Savings for Generic Oncology Drugs Purchased via Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company Versus in Medicare

Self-administered oncology drugs contribute disproportionately to Medicare Part D spending; prices often remain high even after generic entry. Outlets for low-cost drugs such as Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) offer opportunities for decreased Medicare, Part D, and beneficiary spending. We estimate potential savings if Part D plans obtained prices such as those offered under the MCCPDC for seven generic oncology drugs.

Using the 2020 Medicare Part D Spending dashboard, Q3-2022 Part D formulary prices, and Q3-2022 MCCPDC prices for seven self-administered generic oncology drugs, we estimated Medicare savings by replacing Q3-2022 Part D unit costs with costs under the MCCPDC plan.

We estimate potential savings of $661.8 million (M) US dollars (USD; 78.8%) for the seven oncology drugs studied. Total savings ranged from $228.1M USD (56.1%) to $2,154.5M USD (92.4%) compared with 25th and 75th percentiles of Part D plan unit prices. The median savings replacing Part D plan prices were abiraterone $338.0M USD, anastrozole $1.2M USD, imatinib 100 mg $15.6M USD, imatinib 400 mg $212.0M USD, letrozole $1.9M USD, methotrexate $26.7M USD, raloxifene $63.8M USD, and tamoxifen $2.6M USD. All 30-day prescription drug prices offered by MCCPDC generated cost savings except for three drugs offered at the 25th percentile Part D formulary pricing: anastrozole, letrozole, and tamoxifen.

Replacing current Part D median formulary prices with MCCPDC pricing could yield significant savings for seven generic oncology drugs. Individual beneficiaries could save nearly $25,200 USD per year for abiraterone or between $17,500 USD and $20,500 USD for imatinib. Notably, Part D cash-pay prices for abiraterone and imatinib under the catastrophic phase of coverage were still more expensive than baseline MCCPDC prices.

Brian D Cortese, Stacie B Dusetzina, Amy N Luckenbaugh, Bashir Al Hussein Al Awamlh, C J Stimson, Daniel A Barocas, David F Penson, Sam S Chang, Ruchika Talwar
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, Department of Urology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
Source: Cortese, B.D. et al. ‘Projected Savings for Generic Oncology Drugs purchased via Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company versus in Medicare’, Journal of Clinical Oncology (2023). doi:10.1200/jco.23.00079.