Highest Priced Brand Name Treatments Showcase Big Pharma’s Rising Launch
Prices, Disconnect from Cost-Effectiveness Benchmarks





 



DOSE OF REALITY: BIG PHARMA’S PRICES FOR COSTLIEST 2025 MEDICATIONS OUTPACE
FAIR PRICE ESTIMATES BASED ON CLINICAL VALUE

Highest Priced Brand Name Treatments Showcase Big Pharma’s Rising Launch
Prices, Disconnect from Cost-Effectiveness Benchmarks



A new report
<[link removed]>
from Fierce Pharma details the most expensive prescription drugs in the United
States in 2025. The list, dominated by multimillion-dollar gene therapies,
provides an opportunity to review the growing gap between Big Pharma’s
out-of-control prices, especially on newly launched brand name products, and
their clinical value for patients.



Many of the highest priced treatments on the list have been evaluated for
cost‑effectiveness relative to clinical benefit by the Institute for Clinical
and Economic Review (ICER), which issues a health‑benefit price benchmark
(HBPB) to reflect a drug’s fair value. Time and again, Big Pharma’s list prices
soar far beyond these benchmarks for a fair price.



For example, Big Pharma giant Novartis placed a $2.32 million price tag on
rare disease gene therapy Zolgensma. ICER’s health-benefit price benchmark
estimates
<[link removed]>
a fair price for the treatment would fall between $310,000 and $900,000. At
launch, Zolgensma was themost expensive treatment in the world
<[link removed]>
, netting more than $1.2 billion in 2024 sales for Novartis.



Additional examples of the disparities between Big Pharma’s prices and
estimates for a fair price among the highest price treatments this year include:

* Lenmeldy ($4.2M
<[link removed]>
Price vs.$2.3M
<[link removed]>
Estimate for Fair Price)
* Hemgenix ($3.5M
<[link removed]>
Price vs.$2.9M
<[link removed]>
Estimate for Fair Price)
* Lyfgenia ($3.1M
<[link removed]>
Price vs.$1.3M
<[link removed]>
Estimate for Fair Price)
* Roctavian ($2.9M
<[link removed]>
Price vs.$1.9M
<[link removed]>
Estimate for Fair Price)
* Zynteglo ($2.8M
<[link removed]>
Price vs.$2.1M
<[link removed]>
Estimate for Fair Price)
* Casgevy ($2.2M
<[link removed]>
Price vs.$1.3M
<[link removed]>
Estimate for Fair Price)
Lenmeldy, Hemgenix and Roctavian all entered the market in 2023 with launch
prices outpacing their fair price estimates.



Get a Dose of Reality on Big Pharma’s increasingly out-of-control launch
prices, and egregious prices unjustified by clinical benefit below.



OUT-OF-CONTROL LAUNCH PRICES



According to a Reuters analysis
<[link removed]>
, launch prices for prescription drugs first entering the market in the United
States have more than doubled since 2021. Big Pharma has been setting
increasingly out-of-control launch prices on new medications when they face no
competition in the market and have the greatest possible remaining periods of
exclusivity — routinely extended through abuse of the U.S. patent system. Of
the 45 medicines surveyed in 2024, the median annual list price was more than
$370,000 compared to a median launch price of $300,000 in 2023 and $222,000 in
2022.



A study <[link removed]>
published in JAMA Network found the median launch price for 30 drugs was
$180,000 in 2021. That study, conducted by researchers affiliated with Harvard
University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, found that for 14 years, “from
2008 to 2021, launch prices for new drugs increased by 20 percent per year.”
Big Pharma’s egregious pricing practices, including setting out-of-control
launch prices on new products and anti-competitive tactics, impose an
unsustainable burden on American patients, taxpayers and the U.S. health care
system.



UNJUSTIFIED PRICE HIKES



ICER’s Unsupported Price Increase Report
<[link removed]> from
December 2024 examines substantial price hikes on prescription drugs without
new clinical evidence or improvements to justify the increases. Several
pharmaceutical giants were on this year’s list of top offenders, including
Gilead Sciences, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis. The report offers the latest
reminder that Big Pharma’s price hikes are about boosting profits, not true
innovation.



Here are some takeaways from ICER’s most recent analysis:

* Gilead Sciences’ HIV drug Biktarvy — a case study in Big Pharma’s patent
abuse — topped the list, costing taxpayers an additional $359 million after the
company increased the drug’s price 5.9 percent in 2023.
* Johnson & Johnson raised the price of multiple myeloma treatment Darzalex
by 7.6 percent in 2023, costing American patients an additional $190 million.
* Big Pharma giant Novartis increased the price of its heart treatment
Entresto by 6.2 percent, resulting in $108 million in additional spending.
* Amgen raised the price of osteoporosis medication Prolia by 7.6 percent,
causing spending to rise $140 million in 2022.
* Amgen also increased the price of bone marrow stimulant Nplate by 6.8
percent, totaling an additional $17 million in spending.
BIG PHARMA’S UNJUSTIFIED PRICE HIKES COST AMERICAN TAXPAYERS $805 MILLION



An analysis
<[link removed]>
conducted by ICER found Big Pharma hiked prices on seven of the top 10 most
popular drugs in 2021, with no accompanying increase in clinical value —
increasing overall drug spending in the U.S. by $805 million. The price of the
costliest drug, Horizon Therapeutics’ gout treatment Krystexxa, increased by 12
percent, raising out-of-pocket spending by $3,210 on average per patient.
Prices for the second and third most widely used drugs among Medicare Part B
beneficiaries, Seagen’s cancer drug Adcetris and Ipsen’s injection Somatuline
Depot, were both hiked by $1,000 per patient.



Read the full report from Fierce Pharma HERE
<[link removed]>.



Read more on Big Pharma’s out-of-control launch prices HERE
<[link removed]>
.



Read more on how Big Pharma’s innovation arguments don’t hold up to scrutiny
HERE <[link removed]>.



Learn more about market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and
lower drug pricesHERE <[link removed]>.



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