BIG PHARMA WATCH: BIG PHARMA SET NEW RECORD FOR OUT-OF-CONTROL LAUNCH PRICES IN 2023, UP 35 PERCENT FROM PREVIOUS YEAR

Median Price Set by Brand Name Drug Makers on New Treatments Climbs to $300,000

In case you missed it, on Friday, Reuters released a new analysis which found that the median annual price among new drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023 reached $300,000. This number was 35 percent higher than the previous year. The latest analysis demonstrates that despite unprecedented scrutiny of Big Pharma’s egregious pricing and anti-competitive practices, the pharmaceutical industry remains committed to its business-as-usual approach to putting profits over people.

Several of the newly approved drugs in 2023 were priced in the millions or hundreds of thousands of dollars. In fact, of the 47 drugs Reuters analyzed, at least 20 were priced above $350,000. Some of the costliest drugs launched last year include:

• Sarepta’s muscular dystrophy drug Elevidys, with an annual price tag of $3.2 million.
• Bluebird Bio’s sickle cell disease drug Lygenia, priced at $3.1 million per year.
• BioMarin’s treatment for Hemophilia A, Roctavian, priced at $2.9 million per year.
• Vertex and CRISPR’s sickle cell disease drug Casgevy, with an annual price tag of $2.2 million.
• Regeneron’s CHAPLE disease drug Veopoz, priced at almost $1.8 million per year.
• Sanofi’s treatment for Hemophilia A, Altuviiio, priced at $970,000 per year.
• And Novo Nordisk’s rare kidney disease drug Rivfloza, priced at over $600,000 per year.

“Prices are just going up and up without any clear rationale as to why,” said Dan Ollendorf, chief scientific officer at the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), in response to latest Reuters data. The analysis follows up on other recent reports from Reuters showcasing how Big Pharma is increasingly targeting higher launch prices for new drugs.

Last January, Reuters released an analysis which found that the median annual price among drugs approved by the FDA in 2022 exceeded $220,000.

Also, last March, The Wall Street Journal released a report which found that the median monthly price for a newly approved drug nearly tripled from 2011 to 2022 – increasing from $2,624 to $7,034.

Read the full analysis from Reuters HERE.

Read more on Big Pharma’s egregious pricing practices and increasing launch prices HERE.

Read more on market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower prescription drug prices HERE.