New ICER report suggests drug launch prices are outpacing their worth
By: Max Bayer | Original Article
The median list price of drugs at launch rose 24% from 2022 to 2025, and the net prices of those drugs rose even higher, according to a new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).
The group’s latest annual report, released on Tuesday in conjunction with West Health, also found that only one of the 26 drugs approved in that time period met ICER’s value benchmark. Because of the outsized prices, ICER said there has been more than $1 billion in excess spending on just a small share of newly approved drugs.
ICER operates as an independent assessor of drug prices relative to their population benefit, assigning a price-range equivalent to a product’s value, known as the Health Benefit Price Benchmark.
ICER based its net pricing data on estimates from three data sources, including IPD Analytics, SSR Health and the Federal Supply Schedule, rather than the net revenue that pharma companies received. The group had asked manufacturers to voluntarily submit net price estimates, but none were submitted. Data from the Federal Supply Schedule, specifically, were meant to operate as conservative estimates on net pricing trends for comparison.
“The discounts that those payers are able to get from manufacturers do not count in best price, and so that’s one of the reasons those are often a lower bound,” ICER CEO Sarah Emond said in an interview. Using the three data sources, ICER calculated a 35% rise in net launch prices over the three-year period.
Part of the group’s analysis was to adjust for the kinds of drugs that were released, recognizing that some drugs are often priced higher, like gene therapies or orphan drugs. It found that after accounting for drug characteristics, the median annual net launch price still rose 18%, suggesting that prices are rising regardless of therapy or modality. Net prices of small-molecule drugs more than doubled over the study period, while biologic prices grew 25%.
The problem, according to ICER, is that high prices are correlating with delays in access for patients. An aggregate of commercial, Medicare and Medicaid outpatient pharmacy data found that only 36% of prescriptions for drugs that were approved from the second half of 2024 through the first half of 2025 got filled within 30 days, often because they weren’t covered. Medicare rejections far outpaced those in Medicaid and the commercial market. Emond called on insurance companies to more swiftly establish coverage criteria ahead of critical new approvals, so patients don’t face unclear delays or hurdles once drugs reach the market.
Median net launch prices fell from 2024 to 2025, ICER found, despite the overall rise. Similar data have been touted by the Trump administration as a result of the president’s “most favored nation” deals, though the real reason is most likely multifaceted. Emond was wary of taking a victory lap after one year’s worth of data.
“If it turns out for the next three years that launch prices have been flat, we’re gonna say that, and then we’ll start celebrating in a couple of years,” she said. “I’m just not ready to celebrate after one year.”
