In the US, big pharma to ring in the new year with price hikes

By PharmaCompass

2018-12-27

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Pharmaceutical companies in the US have been under pressure from the Trump administration to lower drug prices. But it seems like they don’t intend to cower down to that pressure anymore. Thirty drug companies, including AstraZeneca Plc., Biogen Inc., Allergan, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Amgen, Novartis AG and Bayer AG, have taken steps to raise the prices of their medicines in January.

Several drugmakers filed notifications with California agencies in early November disclosing that they planned to raise prices in the next 60 days or more. Under a state law passed last year, companies are required to notify payers in California if they intend to raise the US list price on any drug by more than 16 percent over a two-year period.

Drug behemoth Pfizer has also announced plans to hike prices on 41 of its drugs in mid-January. In July, Pfizer had rolled back planned price increases after President Trump said in a tweet that the drugmaker “should be ashamed” and that his administration would respond to the hikes.

Novartis is planning to raise prices on more than 100 indications of over 30 different drugs in January, with increases ranging from 4.5 percent to 9.9 percent. Drugs on the list are expected to account for more than US$ 20 billion of Novartis’ revenue this year and include multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya, psoriatic arthritis treatment Cosentyx, and leukemia treatment Tasigna.

The list also includes Novartis’ Diovan, the brand name version of blood pressure treatment valsartan. Generic versions of Diovan have been facing shortages ever since a potential carcinogen was detected in its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) made in China, prompting widespread recalls.

Similarly, Bayer filed notifications with California agencies to increase prices on six of its drugs in January, many of which are birth control products. Most of these price increases are 5 percent.

The hikes scheduled for next month will pose a new challenge to the Trump administration and its pledge to lower the costs of prescription drugs.

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