Whole exome sequencing in molecular diagnostics of cancer decreases over time: evidence from a cost analysis in the French setting

Arnaud Bayle (), N. Droin, B. Besse, Z. Zou, Y. Boursin, S. Rissel, E. Solary, L. Lacroix, E. Rouleau, I. Borget and J. Bonastre
Additional contact information
Arnaud Bayle: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
N. Droin: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
B. Besse: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
Z. Zou: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
Y. Boursin: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
S. Rissel: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
E. Solary: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
L. Lacroix: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
E. Rouleau: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
I. Borget: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre
J. Bonastre: Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 22, issue 6, No 2, 855-864

Abstract: Abstract Objectives Although high-throughput sequencing is revolutionising medicine, data on the actual cost of whole exome sequencing (WES) applications are needed. We aimed at assessing the cost of WES at a French cancer institute in 2015 and 2018. Methods Actual costs of WES application in oncology research were determined using both micro-costing and gross-costing for the years 2015 and 2018, before and after the acquisition of a new sequencer. The entire workflow process of a WES test was tracked, and the number and unit price of each resource were identified at the most detailed level, from library preparation to bioinformatics analyses. In addition, we conducted an ad hoc analysis of the bioinformatics storage costs of data issued from WES analyses. Results The cost of WES has decreased substantially, from €1921 per sample (i.e. cost of €3842 per patient) in 2015 to €804 per sample (i.e. cost of €1,608 per patient) in 2018, representing a decrease of 58%. In the meantime, the cost of bioinformatics storage has increased from €19,836 to €200,711. Conclusion This study suggests that WES cost has decreased significantly in recent years. WES has become affordable, even though clinical utility and efficiency still need to be confirmed.

Keywords: Whole exome sequencing; Cost analysis; Micro-costing; Oncology; Genomics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10198-021-01293-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:22:y:2021:i:6:d:10.1007_s10198-021-01293-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/10198/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10198-021-01293-1

Access Statistics for this article

The European Journal of Health Economics is currently edited by J.-M.G.v.d. Schulenburg

More articles in The European Journal of Health Economics from Springer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().