ICER Analysis Finds List Prices on Newly Launched Brand Name Products Not Justified by Clinical Value

In case you missed it, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released a new report that shows “drug launch prices continue to rise at a rate that exceeds inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and overall healthcare costs,” costing the U.S. health care system as much as $1.5 billion in the first year of these drugs’ launches.

ICER’s report found launch prices, the prices set by Big Pharma on prescription drugs being brought to market for the first time, increased by 24 percent annually from 2022 to 2024.

The negotiation of any prescription drug starts at the list price set by the drug company. Lower list prices mean a better starting point for PBM negotiations for discounts to drive lower costs.

Another ICER analysis actually found that Big Pharma hiked prices on five of the top 10 most popular drugs in 2023, with no accompanying increase in clinical value — increasing overall drug spending in the U.S. by a staggering $815 million.

Big Pharma increases drug prices year in and year out, with a median increase higher than the rate of inflation. AARP released an analysis of the 25 brand-name drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D spending in 2022 and found that, “list prices for the top 25 drugs have increased by an average of 98 percent—or nearly doubled—since they first entered the market.”

Big Pharma sets the price of the prescription drugs — and the price is the problem when it comes to Americans facing difficulty affording their prescription drugs.

Learn more about why drug companies should lower their list price HERE.

###

PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 289 million patients.