PwC Infographic: Costs from specialty drugs skyrocketing

A new PricewaterhouseCoopers report on medical cost trends highlights how specialty drugs are outpacing traditional drugs in a major way.

Take the revenue projections for the top seven specialty drugs – sales for Abbvie’s Viekira Pak for Hepatitis C are expected to reach $3 billion; cystic fibrosis is supposed to hit $2 billion. The profitability from specialty drugs come from their niche status – there just isn’t competition, and drug companies have caught on strong.

This is a real concern in terms of controlling overall medical costs, the report says.

That new class of cholesterol-controlling drugs – the PCSK9 inhibitors – could cost the health system up to $1.5 billion annually. And since these are drugs meant to be used by patients unto perpetuity, the cost of PCSK9 inhibitors could surpass even the Hepatitis C spend.

[button title=”Read More” link=”http://medcitynews.com/2015/06/infograph-costs-from-specialty-drugs-skyrocketing/” target=”_blank” size=”” color=”” class=””]