Communication of Launch Prices by Drug Companies, 2022-2024

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine how drug manufacturers disclosed prices for new molecular entities approved by the FDA between 2022 and 2024.
Study Design: Retrospective study.

Methods: We included drugs approved through new drug applications or biologics license applications, excluding imaging agents, vaccines, blood products, and drugs without an assigned National Drug Code. For each drug, we assessed whether pricing was disclosed proactively (ie, in news releases or earnings calls) or reactively (ie, in media reports citing the company without prior proactive disclosure). We sourced launch prices from public disclosures and California filings. We also recorded company market capitalization, orphan drug designation, accelerated approval status, and Institute for Clinical and Economic Review assessments.
Results: Of 150 drugs, 107 (71%) had publicly disclosed launch prices: 49 proactively and 58 reactively. Proactive disclosure was more common among public companies with smaller market capitalizations—69% for firms worth $1 billion to $10 billion, compared with 7% for those worth more than $100 billion.
Conclusions: We found that pharmaceutical companies proactively released launch prices for one-third of drugs approved from 2022 to 2024 and reactively released prices for an additional 39%. Our findings suggest that securities regulations may influence disclosure behavior, particularly for smaller public companies. Greater transparency at launch could support better-informed public discourse on drug pricing and value.

Am J Manag Care. 2025;31(12):In Press

Takeaway Points

We found that one-third of pharmaceutical companies proactively released the launch price of their medications from 2022 to 2024, and another one-third released them reactively.

• Our research found that 71% of drugs launched from 2022 to 2024 had publicly disclosed launch prices, but only one-third were disclosed proactively.
• Smaller public companies were more likely to disclose launch prices proactively.
• Greater transparency at launch could support better-informed public discourse on drug pricing and value.

Researchers and policy makers have been scrutinizing drug companies’ pricing practices for new products.¹ Attention to launch prices will likely grow as price changes over a medicine’s life cycle become constrained by policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Although no standards exist for launch pricing disclosure, securities regulations may influence communications. We assessed how companies communicated launch prices for medicines approved by the FDA between 2022 and 2024.

METHODS

We identified all new molecular entities approved through FDA new drug applications and biologics license applications between 2022 and 2024 (N = 199),² excluding imaging agents, vaccines, and blood products (n = 38); medicines launched outside of commercial markets (n = 1); and entities without an assigned National Drug Code, which we deemed not to have launched (n = 10) (Figure). The most common indications in our sample included oncology (25%), hematology (15%), neurology (12%), and endocrinology (11%).

We assessed whether manufacturers publicly disclosed each medicine’s price, segmenting disclosures into 2 categories: proactive, defined as disclosures in company news releases or conference calls, and reactive, defined as information attributed to the company in media stories without corresponding proactive disclosure. To identify reactive disclosures, we searched for pricing mentions in 14 media outlets: Biopharma Dive, Bloomberg News, Endpoints News, Fierce Pharma, Formulary Watch, MedPage Today, Medscape, The New York Times, Politico, Reuters, STAT, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

For each drug, we obtained the manufacturer’s stock market capitalization on the medicine’s approval date from Financial Modeling Prep. We determined launch prices from public disclosures and filings with the state of California.³ We also assessed whether the medicine received accelerated approval, orphan drug status, or an Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) assessment.

RESULTS

Of the 150 drugs in the final sample, price at launch was disclosed publicly in 107 cases (71%): 49 proactively and 58 reactively. Proactive announcements were most common among smaller public companies, representing 69% of disclosures for companies with a market capitalization of $1 billion to $10 billion, 15% for companies with a market capitalization greater than $10 billion to $100 billion, and 7% for companies with a market capitalization exceeding $100 billion (Table [A]). Public companies were more likely to disclose any price.

The median annualized price was $58,968 for medicines with no price disclosure, $190,095 for medicines with reactive disclosures, and $364,174 for medicines with proactive disclosures.

Patterns for orphan drugs and nonorphan drugs were similar. Prices for medicines approved under accelerated approval and those receiving an ICER review were somewhat more likely to have been disclosed than prices for non–accelerated approval or non–ICER-reviewed products (Table [B]).

DISCUSSION

We found that one-third of pharmaceutical companies proactively released the launch price of their medications between 2022 and 2024, and another third released them reactively. Smaller public companies—those with a market capitalization under $10 billion—were more likely to disclose launch prices than larger companies or private firms.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission requires companies to inform investors about material public information,⁴ which may explain the disparity between public and private companies. The price of an individual product is more likely to be material at a smaller company. Higher disclosure rates for products receiving accelerated approval and ICER reviews may reflect increased public attention. Study limitations include a small sample and dependence on media coverage to define a reactive disclosure.

Our findings suggest that securities regulations may influence disclosure decisions. Conversations about drug price and value would benefit from a fuller price discussion of prices at launch, and more robust disclosure approaches may help manufacturers inform those discussions.

Author Affiliations: Reid Strategic (BR), Scarborough, ME; Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center (BR, JTC, PJL, PJN), Boston, MA.

Source of Funding: None.

Author Disclosures: Mr Reid owns Reid Strategic, a consultancy, and receives advisory fees from its biopharmaceutical clients, outside the submitted work. Dr Cohen has consulted for Patient Square Capital, which invests in health care businesses; has received grants from argenx and Eisai, and has various grants pending from companies in the life sciences industry; and owns stock in Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson. Dr Lin has received consulting income from Biogen and Halozyme, outside the submitted work, and has received grants from argenx, Arnold Ventures, GSK, Lilly, and No Patient Left Behind to Tufts Medical Center. Dr Neumann has consulted for Analysis Group, argenx, AstraZeneca, Avalere, Merck, Patient Square Capital, Pfizer, and Sarepta Therapeutics; has received grants from argenx, Arnold Ventures, AstraZeneca, Eisai, and the National Pharmaceutical Council; and is employed by the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, which receives funding through a data subscription program, to which a number of pharmaceutical companies and other organizations subscribe.

Authorship Information: Concept and design (BR, PJL, PJN); acquisition of data (BR); analysis and interpretation of data (BR, JTC, PJL, PJN); drafting of the manuscript (BR, JTC, PJL, PJN); critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content (BR, JTC, PJL, PJN); statistical analysis (BR); provision of patients or study materials (BR); and administrative, technical, or logistic support (PJN).

Address Correspondence to: Brian Reid, MS, Reid Strategic, 201 Maine Hwy 1 #189, Scarborough, ME 04074. Email: brian@reidstrategic.com.

REFERENCES

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