New Treatments Are Coming To Market At Outrageous Prices
We’re in a “golden age of drug discovery,” with revolutionary treatments like cell and gene therapies providing new hope for patients. But while these therapies hold transformative potential, they come with staggering price tags — reaching millions of dollars per patient — making them inaccessible for many and putting immense pressure on the health care system. The 2022 prescription drug law has made historic strides in addressing drug costs, yet significant work remains to ensure prices are affordable for all patients.
Pharmaceutical companies dictate the prices of new drugs, choosing what the market will bear over what patients can afford. Thus far, most of these revolutionary new treatments have been for small populations, so they have not yet created a huge health care budgetary impact. However, the first patient began treatment for sickle cell disease in 2024, a disease that affects over 100,000 people in the U.S. alone. A large proportion of patients with sickle cell disease will need to be treated through publicly-funded programs such as state Medicaid programs which would be unable to afford to pay for the treatments at current prices. We must urgently find a balanced solution that rewards innovation while ensuring accessibility and affordability.
"In December of 2011, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that requires an expensive regiment of prescription medicines to stay alive. The cost of my medicines, one of which has a monthly price of nearly $19,000, has drained my savings, retirement pension, and 401(k). But in 2024, I was able to receive a CAR-T treatment which led to me finally reaching remission. While I’m thankful for this new innovative therapy saving my life, its outrageous list price of $2.3 million per treatment sparked a serious concern about its financial strain on patients”
Janet KerriganSouth Carolina
More reforms are needed to ensure future treatments remain accessible to everyone. We are advocating for legislation that would curb monopolistic pricing and foster a system where breakthrough drugs are affordable from the start. Additionally, we aim to address the delivery model for cell and gene therapies like CAR-T, exploring ways to make these treatments more accessible and affordable – by focusing on how we can lower the cost of these treatments.