The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) recommended five changes the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) should make as the drug-pricing watchdog looks to update its value assessment framework.
PhRMA in its comments suggested ICER consider alternatives to the quality-adjusted life year (QALY), such as the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).
“While the QALY, which provides a single number summarizing the ‘value’ of a treatment, it is a commonly used metric for quantifying health benefits, patients do not receive treatments in isolation … It is extraordinarily difficult to translate QALY-based assessments into real-world decision-making in clinically appropriate, patient-centered ways,” PhRMA stated.
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