U.S. Spending on Medicine Increases 8.5%

A new study found that the total spending on medicines in the U.S. was up 8.5% from the previous year.

Issued by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the study says that the surge of new medicines remained strong last year and demand for recently launched brands maintained historically high levels.

The savings from branded medicines facing generic competition were relatively low in 2015, and the impact of price increases on brands was limited due to higher rebates and price concessions from manufacturers.

Specialty drug spending reached $121 billion on a net price basis, up more than 15% from 2014.