The price of most biologics used to treat psoriasis is increasing rapidly and outpacing inflation, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Researchers explored the costs of biologics over time to examine whether changes are proportional to medical inflation rates in a retrospective claims analysis utilizing data from January 1, 2005-December 31, 2018. Between 2005 and 2018, most biologics increased in cost per claim, including adalimumab (+224.49%), etanercept (+206.17%), infliximab (+123.57%), and certolizumab (+170.24%). From 2009-2018, increases were observed for ustekinumab (+127.91%) and golimumab (+218.21%). A decrease was seen in the cost of secukinumab (−3.93%) from 2015- 2018. The cost per claim for most biologics increased above that expected based on medical inflation alone, including for adalimumab (+203.72%), etanercept (+194.66%), infliximab (+126.90%), certolizumab (+164.06%), ustekinumab (+105.17%), and golimumab (+205.01%), while the change in the cost of secukinumab was below inflation (−3.87%).
