Global spending on prescription drugs is forecast to exceed $1.1 trillion by 2024, according to a new study cited by STAT.
The study, conducted by researchers from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, said that global spending will increase 2 percent to 5 percent annually for the next five years. Researchers used net sales, or drug prices after rebates and discounts, to calculate the forecast.
Increased use of expensive specialty drugs was cited as the main driver of higher drug spending. Specialty drugs are expected to account for 40 percent of global drug spending in 2024, compared to 36 percent now.
Though the overall spend is supposed to increase, the rate at which it will increase is predicted to be slower than during the previous five years, STAT reported. The growth rate will slow because of pricing pressures on drugmakers and the loss of patent exclusivity for top-selling brand-name drugs.
The researchers also estimated that 270 new molecular entities will be improved in the next five years, compared to 236 in the previous five years, STAT reported.
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