At least 945 brand name drugs have had their list prices hiked in 2024 so far, according to the non-profit 46Brooklyn. One of the largest was Harrow’s eye medication Triesence at a 486% increase to $944 from $161.
Today, the company’s CEO, Mark Baum, tried to justify the new price of the drug, which has been unavailable in the market for the past few years.
“It’s a very important product in ophthalmology and right now, if you’re a retina surgeon or general ophthalmologist, you don’t have access to it. The drug has not been available for five years,” Baum told STAT columnist Ed Silverman. “So whether it’s $160 or $944, it doesn’t matter. There’s no inventory at any distributor…. Some significant investments have to be made. It was a Model T vehicle in a Tesla Model S world.”
Triesence was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2007 to treat inflammatory conditions in eyes. In 2023, Harrow bought the drug, along with four other medications, from Novartis for $130 million.
In February, the company raised its price. Baum said in a letter to stockholders in March, that the price increase was needed for investments in production that will ensure a “consistent and reliable supply” of the drug. The company hopes to bring the drug back to market later this year.
The U.S.’s ongoing war on prescription drug prices
Baum’s comments come as many Americans feel the cost of prescription drugs is too high.
About 82% of American adults said prescription drug prices were unreasonable in 2023, according to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
They are not wrong in feeling like prices are rising. A report from RAND Health Care recently found that drug prices in the U.S. are 2.8 times more expensive when compared with prices in other countries.
Congress tried to address the issue with the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation requires drug manufacturers to pay the government rebates for any drug price increases above the inflation rate for medications covered by Medicare. In response, some pharma companies have started setting higher launch prices for new drugs.
This resulted in prices for new drugs increasing 35% year-over-year in 2023.