Worldwide cancer drug sales are already way ahead of those of other drugs and the revenue generated by them is expected to grow even larger by 2026. This is according to a report recently released by consultancy Evaluate, which analyses trends in the pharmaceutical sector.
According to Evaluate’s calculations, oncology drugs reached $145.4 billion in sales in 2019, almost triple that of the next item on the list, drugs treating diabetes with $51 billion dollars in sales. By 2026, cancer drug sales are expected to more than double their sales to $311.2 billion.
Cancer drugs are extremely pricey and therefore generate high revenues, with costs of a cancer treatment at above US$100,000 per patient. Cancer rates themselves are also rising with humans increasing their lifespans. Money funneled into cancer research means new medications coming out, which improves cancer treatment but might also increase its price as pharmaceutical companies charge a premium for the newly researched and released drugs.
this chart shows the sales revenues of different classes of drugs in 2019 and 2026.
