Pharmaceuticals raise prices 3.3% in the new year

Pfizer Inc.,

PFE 0.19%

which has a large product portfolio, led with more increases, raising prices by 5% or less on more than 200 products. The pharmaceutical industry usually sets prices for its therapies at the beginning of the year and again in the middle of the year.

In all, about 70 pharmacists raised prices in the United States on Friday, according to an analysis by Rx Savings Solutions, which sells software to help employers and health plans choose the cheapest drugs. The average increase of 3.3% included changes in different doses of the same drug, according to the analysis. Inflation reached 1.2% in the last 12 months.

This year’s average is lower than a year ago, when more than 60 companies raised prices for hundreds of drugs by an average of 5.8%, according to the analysis. However, he found that companies raised prices by at least 50% more products compared to last year.

The biggest price increase, 31%, came via Advanz Pharma Corp.

CXRXF -11.80%

and its product for hypertension Dutoprol, according to the analysis. The drug is a brand combination of two low-cost generic drugs that have been around for decades. The UK-based company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pfizer is launching a Covid-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech SE from Germany in the United States and other countries. A year ago, Pfizer also raised prices for a number of drugs and had already been criticized by President Trump for the way he priced his products.

Many of the New York-based company’s products have risen in price by 5% or less, according to analysis by Rx Savings Solutions. Among them are treatment for breast cancer Ibrance, which sold about $ 4 billion worldwide in the first nine months of last year, in addition to therapy for rheumatoid arthritis Xeljanz and the pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar.

A Pfizer spokeswoman said the company’s price increases were in line with inflation and were needed to fund research on new drugs. Most of them affected hospitals and sterile injectables, about a third of which are sold at or below cost of manufacture, Pfizer said.

He said he is dedicated to growth through expanding drug use, not price increases. The company noted that its net prices have been flat or have fallen over the past three years.

Price increases for companies affect so-called list prices that are set by manufacturers; most patients do not pay these prices, which do not take into account rebates, discounts and insurance payments. Uninsured patients or those with a pharmacy deductible can pay the full list price.

Pharmaceuticals said prices are raised in conjunction with discounts they give pharmaceutical benefit managers, or PBMs, to get a favorable placement on the covered drug lists, known as forms.

In fact, net prices have fallen due to huge discounts for PBMs, which negotiate prices in secret with their customers, such as employers and unions.

During the third quarter of 2020, net prices fell 2.3% against a 4.7% drop in 2019, according to pharmaceutical analysts at SSR Health LLC. Although list prices have risen on average almost every quarter since 2017, net prices have fallen during that period, according to SSR data.

In recent years, pharmaceutical companies have increasingly cited the phenomenon of net pricing, saying that they do not actually benefit much from list price increases and that their net prices are suffering because they are paying greater discounts to pharmaceutical benefit managers.

The pharmaceutical industry has, in recent years, faced increasing scrutiny from patients, legislators and health plans about the prices of their products. Some companies responded by promising not to raise list prices beyond certain levels, including to less than the cost of inflation; but they are also experimenting with new and creative ways to get paid for their most expensive drugs.

The Trump administration’s efforts to lower drug prices have been largely thwarted by industry lawsuits, including an attempt to link the prices of certain prescription drugs in the U.S. to their prices in other developed countries. Still, in November, the government finalized a rule that seeks to restrict discounts paid to intermediaries on Medicare.

President-elect Joe Biden’s administration must also try to reduce the costs of prescription drugs, and Biden called for limits on the prices of newly launched drugs. Most of his proposals are based on the Democratic manual to limit drug prices, including one that would establish an independent government council to determine the prices paid for most government procurement programs, including Medicare.

“Millions of consumers in this country are in dire need of information to make more informed decisions about their therapy and pharmacy options, and to avoid the pitfalls,” said Michael Rea, chief executive of Rx Savings Solutions. Overland Park, Kansas customers include Target Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

The majority of product prices in your company’s analysis rose by less than 10%.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

TEVA 0.52%

, a large generic drug company, has increased prices for about a dozen products, including some pain relievers, according to the analysis. He also increased the price of his Ajovy migraine medicine by 5%, according to the analysis.

A Teva spokeswoman said the Israeli-based company sets prices to help patients access its products, while maintaining product and shareholder research commitments.

Glaxo, based in the UK, has increased prices for the Shingrix herpes vaccine and the Bexsero meningitis vaccine by 7% each, according to the analysis.

A Glaxo spokeswoman confirmed the increases and said the average increase in the company’s product portfolio was 2.6%. She also said the company made fewer price increases than last year and did not increase the price of 18 products.

French company Sanofi increased the price of more than a dozen products by 5% or less, according to the analysis. A spokeswoman for the company said the increases are less than the country’s overall growth rate for health spending and that the company sets a responsible price for its products.

Bausch Health BHC 3.69%

Cos., Which during the summer announced plans to break up its eye care business, has increased prices for about 40 products, according to the analysis. Affected drugs include the stomach drug Xifaxan and the antidepressant Wellbutrin, which increased the price by 8%.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Write to Jared S. Hopkins at [email protected]