Low Value, High Prices: Which Therapeutics Are Worth It?

Two recent value-assessment analyses found that many of the highest priced drugs in the US do not deliver enough beneficial effects to justify their list price. The first analysis came from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), which showed that the newly approved Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab was almost 20% higher than the maximum justified cost based on potential therapeutic benefits. The second analysis was published recently in JAMA examined Medicare spending on the top-selling prescription name brand drugs.

According to Brenna Miller, “Of the 49 drugs examined, 27 (55%) had received at least one rating of “low added therapeutic benefit” from another country. This means that compared to existing treatment options, the drugs added little or no benefit for patients. These 27 drugs together made up $19.3 billion in Medicare spending–more than 10% of all Medicare’s prescription drug spending.”

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(Source: Lown Institute, April 25^th, 2023)