AH110 - Inside the 2026 U.S. Medicine Use Trends Report with Michael Kleinrock

What happens when two consecutive years of double-digit drug spending growth collide with a wave of pricing legislation, executive orders, and policy turbulence? On the latest episode of Astonishing Healthcare, host Justin Venneri welcomes Michael Kleinrock, Director of Research Development at the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, back to the show to find out and unpack the findings from IQVIA's 2026 Medicine Use Trends Report.The headline number is hard to ignore: net drug spending in the U.S. reached $606 billion in 2025, a 10.6% increase year over year, following a 14.4% jump the year before. But the story behind that figure is far more interesting. Michael and Justin dig into what's driving growth (hint: it's not just GLP-1s), why the roughly $670 billion gross-to-net gap matters so much, and why list price still shapes what patients pay even though "nobody pays it." They also explore the uneven reality of the biosimilars market, the trade-offs created by the IRA's Medicare out-of-pocket cap, prescription abandonment, and where spending is headed through 2030.Please note: IQVIA Institute will be hosting a webinar on July 15th, 2026, featuring a star panel, including past Astonishing Healthcare guest John O'Brien, CEO, National Pharmaceutical Council, Murray Aitken, Executive Director at The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, Stacie Dusetzina, Professor, Health Policy & Ingram Professor of Cancer Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and others, to discuss this year's report.Related ContentAH071 - A Look at What's Really Driving Drug Spend, and How it Impacts Us, with IQVIA's Michael KleinrockBeyond the Rebate: How Executives Can Better Manage Pharmacy SpendAH105 - The Perfect Storm Driving the Future of Drug Pricing, With Josh GoldenFor more information about this episode and its transcript, please visit Judi Health Insights.