A Wave of New Treatments, a Tsunami of Ultrahigh Prices

Charging more than $2 million for a single treatment was once unthinkable, but no more. Today’s gene therapies and other innovative medicines for rare diseases come with price tags that stagger the mind, and despite continuing public controversy over drug pricing, they’re not necessarily unfair.

Still, that leaves the question of how a health plan today can absorb even a single claim without looking like the misshapen boa constrictor in “The Little Prince” who famously — and visibly — had swallowed an elephant.

Related: When Drugs Became Ultra-Ultra Expensive

Below are just a few of the recent FDA-approved therapies with staggering price tags.

Source: FDA reports and news accounts.