Key Players and Relevance
Pharmaceutical companies have announced plans to raise prices on at least 350 brand-name drugs in the United States, including COVID-19 vaccines, treatments for respiratory syncytial virus and shingles, as well as the cancer treatment Ibrance. This information was provided exclusively by 3 Axis Advisors.
Price Increases vs. Previous Year
The number of price increases planned for 2026 exceeds that of the same period last year, when pharmaceutical companies announced plans to raise prices for over 250 medications. The median price increase for this year is around 4%, consistent with the rates of 2025.
Exclusions and Discounts
It’s important to note that these increases do not reflect rebates to pharmacy benefit managers or other discounts. Additionally, manufacturers also anticipate price cuts for approximately nine medications.
- Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly plan to reduce the list prices of Jardiance, a diabetes medication, by over 40%, along with three related treatments.
Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the reasons behind these reductions.
Jardiance is among ten medications for which the Trump administration negotiated a lower price for the Medicare program for individuals aged 65 and older by 2026. As part of these negotiations, Boehringer and Lilly reduced the price by two-thirds.
High Drug Prices in the US
Currently, American patients pay more for prescription drugs than citizens in other developed countries. President Trump has been pressuring pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices to match those paid by patients in equally affluent nations.
Despite Trump’s Agreements
Limited Impact of Price Agreements
Dr. Benjamin Rome, a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, stated that these agreements are presented as transformative but only slightly scratch the surface of what truly drives high prescription drug prices in the US.
Rome explained that companies appear to be maximizing prices while negotiating behind-the-scenes discounts with health insurers and pharmaceutical companies, then setting another price for direct-to-consumer sales with cash payments.
Pfizer’s Price Increases
Among the companies, Pfizer has increased the list prices of around 80 distinct medications, including Ibrance (oncology), Nurtec (migraine treatment), Paxlovid (COVID-19 treatment), and some hospital-administered drugs like morphine and hydromorphone.
- Most of Pfizer’s increases are below 10%, except for the 15% increase in Comirnaty, a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Some hospital-administered, relatively inexpensive medications experienced price hikes of over four times.
Pfizer stated in a press release that they adjusted the average list price of their innovative medications and vaccines for 2026 below the overall inflation rate.
“The modest increase is necessary to support investments that enable us to discover and offer new medications, as well as address the increase in costs across our entire business,” Pfizer explained.
Key Questions and Answers
- Q: Why are pharmaceutical companies increasing prices despite Trump’s pressure? A: Pharmaceutical companies argue that these modest increases are necessary to support ongoing research and development efforts as well as address rising costs across their businesses.
- Q: How do these price increases compare to previous years?
- Q: Are there any exceptions or discounts to these price increases?
