— Final assessment to be published on December 6 —
BOSTON, April 14, 2022 – The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) today posted a Protocol outlining how we will conduct our next analysis of “Unsupported Price Increases” (UPI) among prescription drugs within the US market. This initiative will identify the 10 net price increases occurring in 2021 that had the largest impact on national drug spending and determine whether new clinical evidence existed that could support those price increases. This year, for the first time, the initiative will also evaluate whether new evidence existed to support the three highest list price increases in 2020 for drugs primarily covered through Medicare Part B. The burden of list price increases for Medicare Part B drugs directly affects individual patients who are required to pay a percentage of this price out of pocket.
Previously, ICER has published UPI reports for increases that occurred during the two-year period of 2017-2018, 2019, and 2020.
Based on input from a multi-stakeholder advisory group — spanning patient advocates, life sciences companies, public and private payers — this updated Protocol further hones how price increases shall be identified and how the clinical evidence will be assessed.
The complete timeline for this initiative is available here.
About ICER
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is an independent non-profit research institute that produces reports analyzing the evidence on the effectiveness and value of drugs and other medical services. ICER’s reports include evidence-based calculations of prices for new drugs that accurately reflect the degree of improvement expected in long-term patient outcomes, while also highlighting price levels that might contribute to unaffordable short-term cost growth for the overall health care system.