For Immediate Release:
Contact: Lauren Blair
(201) 213-5004
[email protected]

SHOT:

Pfizer & Novartis Introduce Minor Price Hikes On A Small Portion Of Their Drugs:

Pfizer And Novartis Left The Prices To The “Vast Majority” Of Their Portfolios Unchanged. “Pharma giants Pfizer and Novartis have officially raised prices on dozens of drugs, according to data from 46brooklyn Research and Elsevier’s Gold Standard Drug Database … The companies also said they did not raise prices for the vast majority of their medicines.” (Sam Baker, “The Latest Drug Price Hikes,” Axios, 1/25/19)

Pfizer Noted That They Only Raised The Prices Of 41 Drugs – 46 Less Than They Had The Year Before. “A Pfizer spokesperson, for instance, noted in a statement to BioPharma Dive the company targeted 41 medicines this year – about 10% of its portfolio – compared to 87 medicines in 2018.  The spokesperson declined to provide a list of the 41 affected drugs or the new list prices.” (Andrew Dunn, “Pfizer, Novartis, Amgen Add To 2019 Drug Price Hikes,” Biopharma Dive, 1/25/19)

Novartis Claimed That Despite Increasing List Prices By 4.7 Percent, Net Prices Would Decrease By Five Percent. “‘[A]fter the significant discounts and rebates paid to commercial and government payers, in 2019 our average list price change of 4.7% is expected to result in a net price decrease to us of almost 5%,’ a spokesperson for Novartis said in an emailed statement.” (Andrew Dunn, “Pfizer, Novartis, Amgen Add To 2019 Drug Price Hikes,” Biopharma Dive, 1/25/19)

CHASER:

Pfizer & Novartis Chose To Hike The Prices Of The Drugs Most Important To Their Bottom Lines:

The Pfizer Drugs Receiving Price Hikes Account For Nearly Half Of The Company’s Revenue. “[T]hough Pfizer, for example, increased the list prices for just 10% of its drugs, those drugs account for about half of Pfizer’s revenue.” (Sam Baker, “The Latest Drug Price Hikes,” Axios, 1/25/19)

One Drug Pfizer Hiked The Price Of Was Lyrica, “A Multi-Billion-Dollar” Blockbuster. “For Pfizer, Lyrica (pregabalin) is a multi-billion-dollar blockbuster, while Xeljanz (tofacitinib) holds an important role in the big pharma’s future.” (Andrew Dunn, “Pfizer, Novartis, Amgen Add To 2019 Drug Price Hikes,” Biopharma Dive, 1/25/19)

Novartis Increased Prices On Three Of Their Top Performing Drugs, Which Are Expected To Earn An Additional $1 Billion Dollars For The Company. “In addition to Cosentyx (secukinumab) and Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan), Novartis also raised the list price on Gilenya (fingolimod) by 4.5%.  Those three medicines combined to earn Novartis nearly $4 billion in U.S. sales last year, Cowen estimates, a figure which is expected to grow to nearly $5 billion in 2019.”(Andrew Dunn, “Pfizer, Novartis, Amgen Add To 2019 Drug Price Hikes,” Biopharma Dive, 1/25/19)

While We Don’t Know Exactly How Much These Prices Add To Their Earnings, We Do Know Their Profit Margins Are Healthy As Usual. “We still don’t know the net price companies are paid for their drugs, but their profits haven’t taken a hit.” (Bob Herman, “Drug Makers Still Raising Prices, But Seeking Fewer Hikes,” Axios, 1/22/19)

CLICK HERE to read CSRxP’s blog series comparing Big Pharma’s rhetoric with its track record in advance of the House and Senate hearings tomorrow on drug pricing.