Unsubstantiated price hikes drove U.S. drug spending up $805 mln in 2021-report (updated)

Bausch Health Companies

06/12/2022 18:16

(Recasts, adds details from interview)
    By Bhanvi Satija
       Dec 6 (Reuters) - Price increases spread among seven of
the 10 drugs in 2021 behind an $805 million increase in U.S.
spending from the prior year were not supported by clinical
evidence, an influential U.S. pricing research firm said on
Tuesday. 
    The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said
the spending increase in 2021 was still less than the $1.67
billion rise in the previous year. This is the third year the
group has looked at the top 250 drugs by spending and assessed
if those driving U.S. spending increases were justified.
    "Last year, a huge part of the (increase in) spending was
all one drug...in this year, we saw the increase was more spread
out across different drugs," ICER's Chief Medical Officer David
Rind told Reuters. 
    In 2020, Abbvie's  ABBV.N  rheumatoid arthritis therapy
Humira led to an almost $1.4 billion increase in U.S. drug
spending, accounting for over 80% of the total increase.  
     Rind said Humira dropped off the ten costliest prescription
drug list as its net price hike was lower in 2021. Since there
was no single drug which drove the increase in spending this
year, the rise is also relatively smaller compared to 2020, he
added. 
    Bausch Health's  BHC.TO  Xifaxan, an antibiotic drug for
traveler's diarrhea, led to an increase of nearly $175 million
in spending, among the highest this year. 
    Johnson & Johnson's  JNJ.N  schizophrenia therapy Invega
Sustenna and Amgen's  AMGN.O  osteoporosis drug Prolia followed
closely with spending increases of $170 million and $124
million, respectively. 
    All three drugmakers did not immediately respond to Reuters'
requests for comment. 
    President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act will
allow the government to choose 10 drugs to negotiate from among
the 50 costliest drugs for Medicare, the government healthcare
program for people aged 65 and older or disabled, starting in
2026. 
 (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri)
 ((Bhanvi.Satija@thomsonreuters.com; Outside U.S. +91
9873062788;))