High drug launch prices stress health system, report says

About a quarter of the drugs launched last year had an annual net price exceeding $500,000 — part of a trend in which manufacturers are charging historically high sums for new products, according to a new report.Why it matters: At a time when voters say the cost of prescription drugs is crushing their finances, manufacturers may be trying to maximize profits before future government price negotiations eat into revenues, suggests the report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review — an independent drug price watchdog — and West Health. The findings underscore the challenges ahead for the Trump administration as it tries to use "most favored nation" pricing deals and Medicare price negotiations to lower U.S. drug spending.The big picture: Scientific breakthroughs have ushered in a golden age of medicine, with numerous targeted therapies, rare disease drugs and new cancer treatments in the pipeline or coming to market.The problem is that they're arriving with high price tags, driving up overall health spending and posing affordability challenges for both payers and patients.Driving the news: The median launch price of newly approved medicines rose 35% from 2022 to 2025 whe…

≈