ICER says US new drug launch prices have risen sharply
A new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) in the US has found that the net prices of newly launched drugs rose 51% in a three-year period between 2022 and 2024, while the list prices rose 24%.
The analysis also suggests that, had the 23 new medicines been launched at the prices ICER calculated would be cost-effective, US healthcare systems would have saved between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion in the first 12 months of their being on the market. That saving "could have been directed to higher-value drugs and services," according to ICER.
The report's publication comes as the Trump administration is trying to force through a most favoured nation (MFN) policy on drug pricing, which would tie US prices to the lowest in other high-income economies around the world. Three pharma groups – Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Merck KGaA – have already agreed to provide medicines at MFN prices in return for exemption from pharma tariffs.
The cost-effectiveness watchdog said it had focused on the net price – the actual price paid after rebates and discounts – as that is a more useful metric for policymakers than the list price.
The Launch Price and Access Report (PDF) also found barriers to access to new medicines, focusing on drugs launched in 2024, showing that "for the majority of these drugs, insurance coverage policies were not publicly available, even up to one year after approval, and the majority of commercial first-time prescriptions for newly approved drugs were rejected."
Non-coverage of the drug was the most common reason for rejection, according to ICER, which also found that around half of medicines were turned down in the first quarter of this year, even if they had commercial insurance coverage.
"Launch prices are going up, patient access is going down and, in many cases, we are overpaying for treatments," said ICER's president and chief executive, Sarah Emond.
"As Americans confront rising health insurance premiums and risk losing health insurance altogether, it has never been more critical to move towards a system that pays for value," she added.
That view has been disputed by the National Pharmaceutical Council, which represents the biopharma industry, which said it has a "narrow focus on launch pricing" that misses important market dynamics, such as "the full value that medicines provide over their lifecycle, including the loss of exclusivity, which lead to gains for patients, health systems, and society."
It also says ICER's data is limited by "a complex web of data sources, speculative methodologies, and small sample sizes that are not fit for purpose."
