New drugs to treat serious conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, hypertension and more are expected to hit shelves in 2016.
Along with the potential to extend patients’ lives and relieve their suffering from these conditions, these drugs will come with a hefty price tag.
The eight most expensive drugs scheduled to become available in 2016 are projected to generate $16.6 billion in sales in 2020, according an analysis from EP Vantage, a company focused on analyzing and reporting news from the pharmacy and biotech industries.
As more expensive, specialty medications hit the market, they bring their own unique set of challenges, including managing the fear and anxiety of caregivers and patients, curbing expensive non-adherence and the need to store and dispense the medication properly.
Fortunately, the high-touch, patient-centered care independent pharmacies already provide makes them ideal to overcome the challenges of dispensing high-cost and specialty medications.
Here’s a look at eight drugs predicted to be the most expensive to hit shelves in 2016, according to cost projections for 2020 from EP Vantage, and at the patients who could benefit from these new drugs.
Tenofovir alafenamide
This drug from Gilead Sciences is a variation on a class of drugs that prevents HIV from multiplying, and aims at reducing the amount of virus in the body. By 2020, sales are projected to reach $3.7 billion.
More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, and almost one in eight are unaware that they have the infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Atezolizumab
Developed by Roche, this drug is intended to treat lung and bladder cancers and is a new type of cancer treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer and shrink tumors. Among some lung cancer patients, this drug has also been associated with a seven-month survival advantage over chemotherapy. Global sales are projected to reach $2.6 billion in 2020.
According to the American Lung Association, approximately 402,326 Americans currently have been diagnosed with lung cancer, and lung cancer accounts for approximately 27 percent of all cancer deaths.
Ocrelizumab
Ocrelizumab, which is developed by Roche, is used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and has been shown to be most effective in patients with severe versions of MS who don’t have periods of remission. Global sales are projected to reach $2.4 billion in 2020.
This drug could help the more than 2.3 million people who are affected by MS worldwide, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Grazoprevir/Elbasvir
Grazoprevir/Elbasvir is Merck and Co.’s latest combination therapy aimed at treating hepatitis C. Although this drug made the most expensive list with global sales projected to reach $2.1 billion by 2020, it’s also expected to increase competition and drive down prices for other hepatitis C drugs, such as Solvadi® and Harvoni®, which have been criticized for their exorbitant price tags, according to the EP Vantage report.
According to the CDC, approximately 3.5 million people in the U.S. are living with chronic hepatitis C infection, but most don’t feel ill or know they’re infected.
Obeticholic acid
Created by Intercept Pharmaceuticals, obeticholic acid is the first drug in 50 years approved to treat biliary cirrhosis, a rare liver disease that affects about one in every 1,000 women over the age of 40, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Global sales are projected to reach $1.8 billion by 2020.
Dupilumab
Dupilumab is used to treat a severe version of dermatitis, a fairly common skin inflammation condition known as eczema. Created by Sanofi, this drug is expected to reach $1.7 billion in global sales by 2020.
According to the National Eczema Association, approximately 31.6 million Americans have eczema, and about 7.8 million have some form of moderate to severe eczema.
Venetoclax
Venetoclax, a new drug from AbbVie developed to treat leukemia and lymphomas, received the breakthrough therapy designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to it’s promising results in patients who had received traditional treatment and then relapsed. Global sales are projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2020.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2015, there were 54,270 new cases of leukemia, and 71,850 new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Together, the National Cancer Institute estimates that these cases accounted for 7.5 percent of all cancer deaths in the U.S.
Uptravi
Uptravi, a hypertension treatment developed by Actelion, has been shown to reduce the risk of mortality by 40 percent. With global sales projected to reach $1.1 billion by 2020, this new drug could help the one-in-three adults in America with high blood pressure.
An additional one-in-three Americans have prehypertension, according to the CDC, and only about half of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control.
If you’re considering adopting specialty pharmacy into your business, here’s what you need to know.
