February 2, 2024- Vizient, Inc. projects drug price inflation to grow at 3.8% in the latest Pharmacy Market Outlook. Driven in part by specialty pharmacy, including the increasing utilization of weight loss drugs, it is the highest projected increase since July 2019. In addition, the anticipated expansion of gene therapies will increase provider spend even more. View the Pharmacy Market Outlook.
Specialty pharmaceuticals, which treat high-cost, complex or chronic conditions such as cancer, infectious-, autoimmune- and pulmonary conditions, make up the majority of the top 15 medications in spend among Vizient pharmacy program participants. With 42 novel specialty drugs approved in 2023 — and 2024 likely to see a record number of approvals — the projected price increase for specialty medications is 4.18%.
Weight loss drugs, gene therapy, and biosimilars are largely driving the pharmaceutical price increases.