• $3.5 million: Hemgenix (a one-time gene therapy for hemophilia)
• $26,600: Leqembi (an infusion for Alzheimer’s treatment, given every other week)
• $1,349: Wegovy (a weekly injection for weight loss and management)

These are just a few of the latest wave of high-cost drugs, a category of medications that range in price, dose frequency, and eligible population size. More are coming down the pipeline. Healthcare leaders are facing sticker shock from these drugs — and trying to balance their fears about high-cost drugs with the desire to ensure that innovative treatments are accessible to patients in need.

Radio Advisory's Rachel Woods talked with Advisory Board pharmacy experts Gina Lohr and Chloe Bakst about anxieties, misconceptions, and solutions surrounding current and emergent therapies. Here are four of their insights about high-cost drugs.

Currently, six gene therapies are available on the market, with 13 more anticipated to enter within the next year. By 2030, there will be 54 to 74 cell and gene therapies available.

While the development of these drugs was no secret, their introduction to the market marks a new era of medication innovation. At the same time, the number of therapies coming in the pipeline intensifies existing worries around if and how people will be able to afford these medications. 

There is not one definition of a high-cost drug. In fact, trying to group all therapies into a single conversation reinforces the overall problem.