Big Pharma celebrates new year by raising prices on over 250 drugs

Leading drug makers rang in the new year by once again raising list prices of their drugs—this time on more than 250 of them, according to an analysis reported by Reuters.

Data examined by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors found that major drug makers including Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and Sanofi SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Gilead Sciences Inc, and Biogen Inc hiked prices this week.

The larger price tags applied to a range of medications, from blood thinners to cancer therapies and treatments for respiratory conditions, HIV, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

Nearly all of the increases were below 10 percent, according to the 3 Axis analysis. So far, the median price increase is around 5 percent, though additional price increases could still be announced.

Pricing hikes of less than 10 percent are relatively low; drug makers have made headlines in recent years with abrupt, eye-popping increases, such as 879 percent and an infamous hike of more than 5,000 percent. Amid backlash for the hikes—and the country’s exorbitant drug pricing overall—many pharmaceutical companies have pledged to keep their annual price increases to 10 percent or lower.

Still, that lower rate greatly exceeds that of inflation. As of November, the 2019 inflation rate was 2.1 percent.

In a statement to Reuters, Sanofi noted that its increases were in line with the company’s commitment to keep the rate of increases below “medical inflation.”

Though consumers rarely pay list prices for drugs, the increases can add to overall healthcare costs that can in turn raise insurance premiums.

Drug makers typically increase the list prices of drugs twice a year and have continued to do so amid intense public scrutiny. Last year, drug makers went ahead with price hikes on thousands of drugs, many well over 10 percent.

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