Although pharmaceutical companies in America pushed up the prices of at least 250 branded medications from 1 January, including Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid, Bristol Myers Squibbs’ cancer cell therapies and vaccines from France’s Sanofi, the increases are modest, according to data analysed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors.
However, in contrast, the launch prices of new drugs are far higher than they used to be.
Most of the adjustments on existing medications are below 10%, reports Reuters, the median price rise being around 4.5%.
While heftier hikes were once far more common in the US, these have been scaled back slightly after sharp criticism.
“Drugmakers don’t have much real estate any longer to increase prices over time, which means taking greater liberties on launch prices is really the only option they have in the face of expanded penalties for year-over-year price increases,” said 3 Axis President Antonio Ciaccia.
A Reuters analysis of prices for new drugs found that pharmaceutical companies launched new US drugs in 2023 at prices 35% higher than in 2022.
Reuters article – Drugmakers to raise US prices on over 250 medicines starting Jan. 1 (Open access)
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