DOSE OF REALITY: NEW ICER REPORT FINDS BIG PHARMA CONTINUES SETTING INCREASINGLY OUT-OF-CONTROL LAUNCH PRICES UNJUSTIFIED BY CLINICAL VALUE
Launch Prices for 23 New Treatments Exceeding Estimates for a Fair Price Cost the U.S. Health System More Than a $1 Billion in “Just the First Year Post-Approval”
In case you missed it, a new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) finds that Big Pharma’s launch prices for prescription drugs newly entering the market continue to increase, without accompanying justification based on clinical value.
According to ICER’s 2025 “Launch Price and Access Report,” the inflation-adjusted median annual list price for newly launched drugs increased 24 percent between 2022 and 2024 — from $249,257 in 2022 to $308,749 in 2024. The report found that list prices increased across several major drug categories, including orphan drugs, biologic drugs, small molecule drugs, oncology drugs and endocrine/metabolic drugs, as the pharmaceutical industry remains committed to a business-as-usual approach of putting profits over people with egregious pricing on brand name products.
ICER’s analysis identified 15 brand name drugs launched in this period with list prices above $1 million, with many exceeding $2 million per drug. These include:
- BlueBird Bio’s gene therapy drug SYSONA with a list price of $3 million
- CSL Behring’s gene therapy drug HEMGENIX with a list price of $3.5 million
- BlueBird Bio’s gene therapy drug ZYNTEGLO with a list price of $2.8 million
- Immunocore Holdings’ cancer drug KIMMTRAK with a list price of nearly $1.29 million
- Sarepta Theapeutics’ gene therapy drug ELEVIDYS with a list price of $3.2 million
- BlueBird Bio’s gene therapy drug LYFGENIA with a list price of $3.1 million
- BioMarin’s gene therapy drug ROCTAVIAN with a list price of nearly $2.45 million
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics’ gene-editing therapy drug CASGEVY with a list price of $2.2 million
- Chiesi Global Rare Diseases’ enzyme replacement therapy drug LAMZEDE with a list price of nearly $1.46 million
- Krystal Biotech’s gene therapy drug VYJUVEK with a list price of $1.26 million
- Regeneration Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy drug VEOPOZ with a list price of $1.17 million
- Orchard Therapeutics’ gene therapy drug LENMELDY with a list price of $4.25 million
- PTC Therapeutics’ gene therapy drug KEBILIDI with a list price of $3.95 million
- Pfizer’s gene therapy drug BEQVEZ with a list price of $3.5 million
- Mesoblast’s cell therapy drug RYONCIL with a list price of $1.55 million
The ICER report underscores that these unsustainably high prices tags are not justified by clinical value for patients. “The U.S. health system could’ve saved between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion in just the first year post-approval” of these new medications if Big Pharma “stuck with the upper limit for price on what the watchdog suggested [would be justified by clinical value] prior to the launch of 23 drugs formerly reviewed by ICER.”
ICER’s report detailed substantial increases in median launch prices across several key categories of drugs.
- Orphan drugs rose from $357,520 in 2022 to $515,000 in 2024.
- Biologic drugs increased from $357,520 to $525,000.
- Small molecule drugs rose from $132,640 to $187,391.
- Oncology drugs increased from $357,623 to $442,645.
- Endocrine and metabolic drugs spiked from $419,876 to $781,220.
ICER’s findings build on a growing body of evidence showing Big Pharma is setting new records for out-of-control launch prices year after year.
A May analysis from Reuters found launch prices for prescription drugs entering the U.S. market more than doubled since 2021.
A Reuters report from last year 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.
Additionally, The Wall Street Journal last year 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 report from ICER HERE.
Read more on Big Pharma’s increasing launch prices HERE and HERE.
Learn more about bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.
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