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DOSE OF REALITY: BIG PHARMA WELCOMES 2025 WITH PRICE HIKES
Jan 7, 2025
Brand Name Drug Companies Increase Prices By More Than Rate of Inflation in First Week of January, With Number of Price Hikes Expected to Rise Throughout the Month
In case you missed it, Big Pharma once again began the year with price increases outpacing the rate of inflation on brand name drugs in their portfolios — providing an important reminder that manufacturers set prices on their products, increase prices to boost their profits, and block competition to keep prices high.
According to data on Big Pharma’s first 250 price increases to start the month, the median increase was 4.5 percent, significantly exceeding the most recent 2.7 percent rate of inflation from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Among the worst offenders with price hikes more than double the rate of inflation were:
- Bristol Myers Squibb increased the price of its cancer treatments Abecma by six percent and Breyanzi by nine percent.
- Leadiant Pharmaceuticals increased the price of its Hodgkin’s disease treatment Matulane by approximately 15 percent and its cystinosis treatment Cystaran by approximately 20 percent.
Get a Dose of Reality from news coverage of Big Pharma’s first round of January price hikes here:
Big Pharma traditionally raises prescription drug prices in two major batches of increases each year, with most increases going into effect in January and a second major round of price hikes mid-year. As Reuters explained in coverage of the first 250 planned price hikes for this January, “[m]ore drug price increases are likely to be announced by other drugmakers over the course of January – historically the biggest month for drugmakers to raise prices.”
Big Pharma’s price hikes have little relationship to any improved clinical value for American patients. According to a December analysis from the Institute of Clinical and Economical Review (ICER), brand name drug makers’ egregious price hikes on just five widely used prescription medications, without any accompanying true innovation, cost U.S. patients and the health care system an additional $815 million in 2023.
Read more on Big Pharma’s first round of price increases for 2025 HERE.
Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.
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