The cost of new cancer drugs taken at home rose more than 25 percent from 2017 to 2021, and the price of all new cancer drugs and infusion treatments jumped 53 percent, according to a Nov. 2 report from California Representative Katie Porter's office.
Cancer drugs are 3.7 times more expensive than other medications, and most of the bill falls on Medicare, according to the report.
In 2021, the average launch price of cancer therapies was more than $283,000 per year. If this trend continues to 2026 — when the Inflation Reduction Act will allow Medicare to negotiate some drug prices — new self-administered cancer drugs are projected to cost $325,000 per year and new infusion cancer treatments $525,000 per year.
The report found that as of August, the median launch price for 13 drugs introduced in 2022 was $257,000.
"Our report is clear: The prices Big Pharma sets for new cures show that these companies think of cancer more like a business opportunity than a life-threatening disease," Ms. Porter said in a statement. "For Congress to maximize the Inflation Reduction Act's protections for patients and taxpayers, we must double down on fighting corporate abuse in drug pricing."