Drugmakers to Ring in New Year with Price Hikes
Health Care

Drugmakers to Ring in New Year with Price Hikes

Reuters

Nearly 30 drug producers will raise prices in January, Reuters’ Michael Erman and Robin Respaut

report, “ending a self-declared halt to increases made by a pharma industry under pressure from the Trump administration.” Drugmakers planning prices hikes include Novartis, Bayer, Allergan, GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, AstraZeneca and Biogen.

The price increases will “pose a new challenge to President Donald Trump’s pledge to lower the costs of prescription medications in the world’s most expensive pharmaceutical market,” Erman and Respaut write.

Following criticism from the Trump administration, several large pharmaceutical firms halted price increases in 2018. Pfizer postponed a planned price hike after President Trump tweeted in July that the company “should be ashamed” for raising prices “for no reason.”

But the administration’ strategy appears to have reached a limit, without generating much by way of long-lasting changes in the drug market. “Requests and public shaming haven’t worked,” said Michael Rea of RX Savings Solutions, adding that he expects to see more price increases in 2019 than in previous years. 

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