Segment 5 - Establishing the Value of Immunotherapy in Oncology

Michael Kolodziej, MD, explains, the benefit of using biomarkers from a payer perspective to ensure that the right patient gets the right treatment.

“Many of the new therapies, whether they be targeted agents or immunotherapies are extremely expensive,” he said. “We can get into long debate about what the right or fair price is, but I think because of the high cost, there is a lot of scrutiny in the managed care world to make sure that the right patient gets the treatment.”

He added that it can be difficult to know where treatments belong in the sequence of therapy. While some people are of the opinion that these treatments should be used earlier rather than later, payers prefer to manage to what the FDA decides.