Big Pharma To Raise Prices On 350 U.S. Drugs

Drugmakers including Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca PLC and Sanofi SA plan to raise prices in the US on more than 350 unique drugs in early January, healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors said, Michael Erman and Julie Steenhuysen reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The industry is also contending with inflation and supply chain constraints that have led to higher manufacturing costs.

The increases are expected to come as the pharmaceutical industry prepares for the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allows the government's Medicare health program to negotiate drug prices starting in 2026.

The industry is also contending with inflation and supply chain constraints that have led to higher manufacturing costs.

The increases are on list prices, which do not include rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and other discounts.

In 2022, drugmakers raised prices on more than 1,400 drugs according to data published by 46brooklyn, a drug pricing non-profit that is related to 3 Axis. That is the most increase since 2015.

The median drug price increase was 4.9% last year, while the average increase was 6.4%, according to 46brooklyn.

Both figures are lower than the inflation rates in the US. Drugmakers largely have kept increases at 10% or below - an industry practice followed by many big drugmakers since they came under fire for too many price hikes in the middle of the last decade.

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