July 28, 2021 – Vizient, Inc. (Irving, TX) released its Pharmacy Market Outlook, forecasting a 3.10% increase in total pharmaceutical spend for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, and non-acute providers for Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2022.
The report, an analysis of Vizient member pharmaceutical purchase data, forecasts that oncology will remain the top therapeutic class in spend by Vizient member purchases and that COVID-19 will have a pronounced effect on member drug purchases.
Highlights of the report include:
- Oncology medications make up nearly 25% of Vizient member spend
- Oncology medications will increase 3.25%, with numerous new molecular entities approved by the FDA
- Rheumatoid arthritis drug, adalimumab, will continue to be ranked first in terms of spending until biosimilar competition ultimately arrives
- Spending on diabetes products, such as insulin, will increase by 2.63%
- Remdesivir was the third highest spend drug overall among Vizient members and the number one infectious disease related medication from April 2020 through March 2021
Additionally, specialty pharmaceutical pricing is expected to grow at a rate of 4.68%The company says that the elevated growth is driven by two elements, the continued approval of highly specialized, novel drug therapies and ongoing price increases for adalimumab prior to facing biosimilar competition.This edition of the Pharmacy Market Outlook is the first to include diabetes medications, which are projected to increase 2.63%.
Novel diabetes drugs are gaining more indications, not only in the management of blood glucose, but also for the prevention of cardiovascular events and other disease complications.
The continued expansion of indications of novel diabetes treatments and their increased use will likely result in greater expense. The company expects biosimilar competition could finally bring definitive competition to this market, another opportunity providers must continue to monitor for possible implementation.