During 2023, drugmakers substantially raised prices on five widely used medicines without any new clinical evidence to justify the increases, leading patients and health insurers in the U.S. to spend an additional $815 million last year, according to a new report.
The drug for which spending increased the most due to a price increase was Biktarvy, which is prescribed to treat HIV and is a franchise product for Gilead Sciences. The company raised the wholesale price by 5.9%, while the net price — after rebates and discounts are calculated — rose by 3.8%, most likely because the company offered more concessions than previously.
Consequently, spending for this drug climbed by $359 million, according to the report issued by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a nonprofit that assesses the cost-effectiveness of medicines. The report noted that Gilead maintained that certain important study data were “rejected” or “overlooked,” and that in at least one instance, the analysis “contradicts standard research practice.”
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