Dose of Reality: Breaking Down Big Pharma’s Year of Bad Behavior in 2025: Part I: Big Pharma’s Egregious Pricing Practices

Take a Look Back on Big Pharma’s Year of Price Hikes and Increasingly Out-of-Control Launch Prices

With each new year comes a time-honored tradition for Big Pharma: Hiking prices on hundreds of brand name prescription drugs in the first weeks of January.

As Big Pharma’s next round of January price hikes approaches, we can take a look back at a year of bad behavior for the pharmaceutical industry and be reminded why policymakers must hold brand name drug companies accountable to lower drug prices.

We’ll start this series with a review of Big Pharma’s egregious pricing practices in 2025, including continuing to hike prices faster than the rate of inflation and bringing new drugs to market with increasingly out-of-control launch prices.

Get a Dose of Reality on Big Pharma’s year of egregious pricing practices:

2025 PRICE INCREASES

Egregious Price Hikes

Big Pharma once again began 2025 with price increases outpacing the rate of inflation on brand name drugs in their portfolios — providing an important reminder that manufacturers set prices on their products, increase prices to boost their profits and block competition to keep prices high.

According to data on Big Pharma’s first 250 price increases to start the year, the median increase was 4.5 percent, exceeding the most recent 2.7 percent rate of inflation from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics before the price increases went into effect.

Among the worst offenders with price hikes more than double the rate of inflation were:

Bristol Myers Squibb increased the price of its cancer treatments Abecma by six percent and Breyanzi by nine percent.
Leadiant Pharmaceuticals increased the price of its Hodgkin’s disease treatment Matulane by approximately 15 percent and its cystinosis treatment Cystaran by approximately 20 percent.

Brand Name Drug Companies Nearly Double Prices on Medications Most Often Needed by America’s Seniors Since They First Entered Market

A report in January from AARP’s Public Policy Institute found that the list prices of Medicare Part D’s top 25 best-selling prescription drugs increased by an average of 98 percent – or nearly double – since entering the market. The report found that “20 of the top 25 drugs’ lifetime price increases greatly exceeded the corresponding rate of general inflation.”

Egregious examples from the AARP report include:

Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Trulicity, which first came to market in 2014, has experienced a 100 percent increase in price during its time on the market, while the corresponding increase in inflation over that same period is only 33 percent.
Pfizer and Astellas’ prostate cancer drug Xtandi, which came to market in 2012, has experienced a 92 percent increase in price during its time on the market, while the corresponding increase in inflation over the same period is only 37 percent.
Bristol Myers Squibb’s multiple myeloma drug Pomalyst, which came to market in 2013, has experienced a 120 percent increase in price during its time on the market, while the corresponding increase in inflation over the same period is only 35 percent.
AbbVie’s irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) drug Linzess, which came to market in 2012, has experienced a 154 percent increase in price during its time on the market, while the corresponding increase in inflation over the same period is only 36 percent.

SKYROCKETING LAUNCH PRICES

Launch Prices & Prices Outpacing Fair Estimates Based on Clinical Value

Launch prices for prescription drugs first entering the market in the United States more than doubled last year compared to 2021, according to a Reuters analysis in May. 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.

“The increase in prices has occurred even as the U.S. government tries to rein in prescription costs,” Reuters notes. “Drug pricing has become a populist issue for President Donald Trump, who has called for drugmakers to bring U.S. prices in line with other high-income nations that pay far less.”

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 separate study published in the JAMA Network, based on the same criteria as the Reuters survey, found that 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.”

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

A report in August from Fierce Pharma examined the most expensive prescription drugs in the United States in 2025. The list, dominated by multimillion-dollar gene therapies, provided 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 a fair price for the treatment would fall between $310,000 and $900,000. At launch, Zolgensma was the most expensive treatment in the world, 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 Price vs. $2.3M Estimate for Fair Price)
Hemgenix ($3.5M Price vs. $2.9M Estimate for Fair Price)
Lyfgenia ($3.1M Price vs. $1.3M Estimate for Fair Price)
Roctavian ($2.9M Price vs. $1.9M Estimate for Fair Price)
Zynteglo ($2.8M Price vs. $2.1M Estimate for Fair Price)
Casgevy ($2.2M Price vs. $1.3M Estimate for Fair Price)

Launch Prices for 23 New Treatments Exceeding Estimates for a Fair Price Cost the U.S. Health System More Than $1 Billion in “Just the First Year Post-Approval”

A report in October from ICER found 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 Therapeutics’ 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
Regeneron 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

As policymakers return to Washington in 2026, they should take note of the pharmaceutical industry’s continued egregious pricing practices and work to advance bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable.

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

And stay tuned as we continue to review Big Pharma’s bad behavior from this past year throughout the week.

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