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Generic prices remain high in topical medications

In a cross-sectional analysis of price increases in topical medications, among generics, antineoplastics, retinoids and topical corticosteroids had the most increases since 2014, based on National Average Drug Acquisition Cost data from the Medicaid Pharmacy Pricing database from 2014 to 2018.

To compensate for differences in the amount of medications in each drug class, the researchers compared the mean number of price increases greater than 100% per medication in each category and also the magnitude of increase.

In topical corticosteroids, the percentage of price increases was 28.6% during the 4-year period, antifungals increased by 19.8%, treatments for acne/rosacea by 11.4%, antibiotics and retinoids by 7%, antineoplastics by 4.1%, emollients by 2.3%, calcineurin inhibitors by 1.6%, antivirals by 1.1%, antiparasitic by 1% and other miscellaneous medications increased by 16.2%.

As for branded medications, the most frequent price increases per medication in each class were identified in topical corticosteroids (0.37), antineoplastics (0.13) and retinoids (0.08).

In generics, antineoplastics and retinoids had the most price increases per medication (0.08) followed by topical corticosteroids (0.06).

The frequency of price increases was associated with drug class in branded medications but not generics, according to the study.

The frequency of price increases fell from 2014 to 2018 in branded (P = .002), generic (P = .021) and all medications (P = .002), according to the researchers.

Researchers found the highest median price change for a 30-g supply among branded medications in antineoplastics ($878.96) followed by antifungals ($128.66) and antibiotics ($114.95). In generics, the largest increases were found in antineoplastics ($156.36), retinoids ($54.36) and topical corticosteroids ($33.46).

“Growing public attention of this issue may also be influencing pharmaceutical manufacturer behavior. However, prices for many generic topical medications remain high, and dramatic price increases continue to occur,” wrote John Barbieri, MD, MBA, postdoctoral research fellow in the department of dermatology at University of Pennsylvania, and Partik Singh, BA, of the department of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. – by Abigail Sutton

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.