Some of the most expensive medications on the market treat a rare disease or cancer, and often represent the first approved treatment for the condition, according to a study from Waltham, Mass.–based life science consulting firm Trinity Partners.
For the study, Trinity assessed 103 novel drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2014 to 2016. The agency defines novel drugs as treatments with chemical structures that have not yet been approved. Researchers also estimated each drug's annual per-patient cost using the medication's list price before discounts and rebates, reports Boston Business Journal.
Trinity sorted the 34 most expensive drugs into two tiers, placing 10 that cost more than $200,000 annually into one tier and 24 that cost between $100,000 and $200,000 annually into a second tier.
Here are five study findings, as cited by Boston Business Journal.
- Every drug in the top tier treats a rare disease.
- All but one of the medications in the top tier require long-term, regular dosing. All but three drugs in the second tier require a similar dosing regimen.
- The FDA labels seven of the top tier drugs as "first-in-class," meaning they treat an illness via a new mechanism.
- Nine out of the 10 drugs in the top tier represent the first approved therapy for a specific disease, and eight are intended for pediatric conditions.
- A majority of second-tier drugs represent cancer treatments that meet a serious medical need, but are not the first-approved treatment for the illness or specifically designed for pediatric patients.
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