Specialty drugs are a broad category of high-cost, complex therapies that may be administered by patients or providers and are covered under either the pharmacy or medical benefit. For more detail on what makes a drug a specialty product, specialty medication glossary.

Growing utilization and a robust pipeline have led to ballooning spending on specialty drugs in recent years. With specialty drugs making up 75% of the drug pipeline in 2024, high drug spend is likely to remain healthcare’s new normal.¹

Using data from Optum Pharmacy Advisory Services' Health Technology Pipeline Tool, we identified three major trends shaping the specialty drug pipeline. These trends have and will continue to influence health plan, health system, and pharmacy benefit manager strategies within the specialty pharmacy market.