How much did Acthar's price increase?
The FTC's then-chair said Questcor raised the price from $40 in 2001 to more than $34,000 by 2017 — an 85,000% increase — with no new research or improved formulations behind the rises, making it one of the most cited examples of price gouging on old medicines.
The FTC's then-chair Edith Ramirez said Questcor raised Acthar's price from $40 per vial in 2001 to more than $34,000 per vial by 2017, "an 85,000 percent increase." By 2020 reports placed the price at around $40,000 per vial. A treatment course for infantile spasms could exceed $100,000. These increases were not linked to new research or improved formulations. Questcor had acquired the drug in 2001 and pursued a strategy of expanding its use and raising its price; Mallinckrodt then paid $5.8 billion for Questcor in 2014. Acthar is therefore one of the most frequently cited examples in congressional debates of price increases on old medicines lacking competition.