Overview
- An insurers’ study cited by German outlets calculates that health funds pay €2,039.27 for 100 mg of Keytruda, while a modelled “fair” price would be about €40.
- Public Eye estimates total Keytruda development costs at about $4.8 billion, far below Merck’s stated $44 billion, and the company declined to comment on the gap.
- Germany’s statutory insurers spent more than €2 billion on the drug in 2025 as a typical year of treatment costs about €94,000 per patient.
- Clinicians and payers are weighing shorter courses to cut costs, with a Charité team estimating up to €200 million in yearly savings for lung cancer because the EMA label does not set a time limit.
- Germany lets drugmakers set launch prices for six months before a benefit review that can lock in high prices for patented medicines, which make up 54% of drug spending but only 7% of prescriptions.