Pfizer, Sanofi, and GlaxoSmithKline plan to raise U.S. prices on more than 300 drugs in the United States on Jan. 1. More price hikes are expected to be announced on Friday and in early January.
Drug manufacturers are supposedly suffering from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced doctor visits and demand for some drugs. They are also flaunting new drug price cutting rules from the Trump administration, which would reduce the industry’s profitability.
The companies kept their price increases at 10% or below, and the largest drug companies to raise prices so far, Pfizer and Sanofi, kept nearly all of their increases 5% or less.
GSK raised prices on two vaccines - shingles vaccine Shingrix and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine Pediarix - by 7% and 8.6%, respectively.
Teva Pharmaceuticals hiked prices on 15 drugs, including Austedo, which treats rare neurological disorders, and asthma steroid Qvar, which together grossed more than $650 million in sales in 2019 and saw price hikes of between 5% and 6%. Teva hiked prices for some drugs, including muscle relaxant Amrix and narcolepsy treatment Nuvigil, as much as 9.4%.
2 comments:
"They are also flaunting new drug price cutting rules". I doubt it. But they certainly seem to be flouting them. They are one more symptom of the uncontrollability of capitalism.
I appreciate the correction of my malapropism.
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