Americans spent a record $374 billion on prescription drugs last year — mostly thanks to one drug

published 14 April 2015

A new report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, an industry research firm, has revealed that U.S. spending on prescription drugs jumped by 13 percent last year.

In 2014, Americans spent $374 billion on prescription drugs. That figure is due, in part, to a new drug for hepatitis C, which costs more than $80,000 per patient for 12 weeks of treatment. The innovative Hepatitis C treatment, Sovaldi, was the top-selling drug in America last year. The hepatitis C drugs, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, accounted for more than $11 billion of U.S. prescription drug spending.

The Los Angeles Times explains that before Sovaldi became available, patients with hepatitis C weren't receiving treatment for the virus. Experts predict that future years won't see jumps in prescription use as drastic as the one in 2014, since last year marked Sovaldi's first full year on the market. The IMS Health researchers also believe that when Gilead's competitors release hepatitis C treatments, the cost of Sovaldi will drop to $50,000 or less.