The latest Sun Life report reveals that cancer categories Malignant Neoplasm and Leukemia, Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma continue to be top drivers of high-cost claims, making up 29% of total claim reimbursements over the past four years. Therefore, it will probably come as no surprise that cancer drugs make up over half of Sun Life's top 20 high-cost injectable drugs for 2022. The trend is consistent with last year, the report states, although some of the names have changed. Herceptin and Tecentriq, numbers 7 and 11 respectively for 2021, have dropped out of the top 20 altogether. Meanwhile, Almita, which is used to treat malignant mesothelioma and other lung cancers, moved up two spots from 21 to 19 this year. Leukemia and lymphoma drug Rylaze makes its debut on the Sun Life report at number 13, and at an average cost of over $800,000 is the most expensive drug in Sun Life's top 20. The average cost of Almita is close to $67,000.

Related: Pfizer plant damaged in tornado, potentially worsening U.S. drug shortage

Rylaze is one of five drugs that were not on Sun Life's list four years ago, according to the report. The remaining drugs are: Darzalax Faspro, which treats multiple myeloma; hemophilia drug Hemlibra; Ultomiris, which is used to treat kidney clotting disorder and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome; and thyroid eye disease drug Tepezza, which is also the most expensive non-cancer drug on the list. See our slideshow above for the top 10 high-cost injectable drug trends, and click here to read the full report.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Richard Binder

Richard Binder, based in New York, is part of the social media team at ALM. He is also a 2014 recipient of the ASPBE Award for Excellence in the Humorous/Fun Department.

Consumer Driven Health Care
Core and Group Health
Cost-Containment
Employer-Paid