ICER's unsupported drug price increase assessment

The USA’s Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) yesterday posted a draft protocol describing a new annual analysis - an ICER “Unsupported Price Increase” (UPI) report - that will analyze significant prescription drug increases and determine whether or not new clinical evidence exists that could be used to support those increases.

Public comment is being sought to inform a final version of the analytic protocol. Once finalized, the protocol will guide the development of the first of these annual reports, currently scheduled for October 2019.

“Drug prices are often increased substantially over time in the US, and questions are frequently raised regarding whether these price increases are justified,” noted Dr David Rind, the ICER’s chief medical officer. “By identifying drugs with substantial price increases despite no new evidence of added benefit, we hope to make an important first step in providing policymakers with information they can use to advance the public debate on drug price increases,” he explained.