OBJECTIVES: Lung cancer is 3rd most incident cancer and has highest annual mortality, causing significant health and economic burden. Significant therapeutic innovation has improved overall survival, however that comes at a price. This study evaluated launch prices and price increases of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) novel drugs that are approved post 2018.

METHODS: We identified 12 FDA approved NSCLC drugs and extracted monthly WAC prices from AnalySource’s First Data Bank. We computed annual drug acquisition cost using FDA-approved dosing assuming no discontinuation. Launch pricing and post launch price increases were analyzed until December 2023 and adjusted for inflation using Bureau of Labor Statistic CPI inflation index. Pricing trends and patterns were analyzed using Excel.

RESULTS: We extracted pricing data on 11 FDA approved novel NSCLC therapies (dacomitinib, capmatinib, entrectinib, selpercatinib, tepotinib, sotorasib, amivantamab, adagrasib, brigatinib, lorlatinib, pralsetinib), which are targeted therapies for specific mutations. In Dec 2023, the average annual cost for the 11 therapies was $250,835 and ranged from low of $189,332 to high of $281,656. For the six 2nd line therapies the average annual drug acquisition cost was $254,287, while the four drugs approved for either first or second-line use had comparable average annual cost of $258,214. Overall, the therapies were on the market for 3.5 years and had taken an average of 4.48% annual price increase (range 0.84% to 6.51%). The highest price hike occurred in 2023. Average launch price for NSCLC therapies launched in 2018-2023 were $173,196, $204,400, $242,312, $239,259, no approval and $240,292 respectively. We found that 6 products increased prices below or similar to inflation rate while the remaining 5 products increased price from 1% to 9% above the inflation rate.

CONCLUSIONS: In our analysis, NSCLC therapies launched at prices comparable to market competition with price increases comparable to inflation.