Exclusive-Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure from Trump

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices of at least 350 brand-name drugs, including Covid-19, RSV and shingles vaccines and blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance, even as the Trump administration pressures them for cuts, according to data exclusively provided by health research firm 3 Axis Advisors.

The number of price increases for 2026 is up from the same point last year, when drugmakers announced price hike plans for more than 250 drugs. The median price increases this year are around 4%, in line with 2025.

The increases do not reflect any rebates given to pharmacy benefit managers and other reductions.

PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS ALSO GIVE DISCOUNTS ON SOME PRICES

Drugmakers also plan to reduce list prices of about nine drugs. This includes more than 40% cuts to Boehringer Ingelheim’s diabetes drug Jardiance and three related treatments.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which sell Jardiance together, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reason for the price cuts.

Jardiance is among 10 drugs for which the U.S. government is negotiating a lower price for the Medicare program for people ages 65 and older in 2026. As part of these negotiations, ⁠Boehringer and Lilly reduced the price of Jardiance by two-thirds.

U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription drugs; that’s often nearly three times higher than in other developed countries, and Trump is pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients in similarly wealthy countries pay.

The increases for 350 drugs came even as Trump struck deals with 14 drugmakers over the prices of some of their drugs for the government’s Medicaid program for low-income Americans and cash payers. Among these companies, Pfizer, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis and GSK also plan to increase the prices of some drugs on January 1.

D., a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “These deals are touted as transformative, but they’re actually just eroding margins in terms of what’s causing the high prices of prescription drugs in the United States,” said Benjamin Rome.

Behind the scenes, companies maximize prices while negotiating discounts with health and drug insurers and then set another price for direct-to-consumer cash sales, Rome said.

An HHS spokesman declined to comment.

CAUGHT INFLATION

Pfizer announced that the highest increase occurred in the list prices of approximately 80 different drugs administered in some hospitals, such as cancer drug Ibrance, migraine pill Nurtec and Covid treatment Paxlovid, as well as morphine and hydromorphone.

Most of Pfizer’s increases have been below 10%, apart from a 15% increase for its COVID vaccine in Comirnaty, while some of its relatively cheap hospital drugs have seen increases of more than fourfold.

Pfizer said in a statement that it has set the 2026 average list price of its innovative drugs and vaccines below the general inflation rate.

“The modest increase is necessary to support investments that allow us to continue discovering and delivering new medicines while also absorbing rising costs in our business,” the company said. he said.

Larger increases in drug prices were once much more common in the United States. Drugmakers have scaled back these drugs amid criticism from lawmakers and new government policies, such as penalizing companies that charge Medicare program prices that rise faster than inflation.

European pharmaceutical manufacturer GSK plans to increase the prices of about 20 drugs and vaccines from 2% to 8.9%. The drugmaker said it was committed to affordable prices and that the increases were necessary to support scientific innovation.

Sanofi and Novartis did not respond to requests for comment.

More price increases and cuts can be expected in early January, which has historically been the month when drug manufacturers increase prices the most.

3 Axis is a consulting firm that works with pharmacist groups, health plans and some pharmaceutical industry groups on drug pricing and supply chain issues. The nonprofit drug pricing organization is affiliated with 46brooklyn and uses its staff as partners.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; editing by Caroline Humer)