Brand name drug companies are responsible for setting the prices of the prescription drugs in their portfolios. To maximize profits, at the expense of patients, taxpayers and the U.S. health care system, Big Pharma repeatedly hikes prices on existing products and sets increasingly outrageous launch prices on new medications.
Price-gouging, which leads to as many as one-in-two Americans experiencing financial hardship in affording prescription drugs, is enabled by Big Pharma’s egregious anti-competitive practices designed to extend monopolies and block patients from accessing more affordable alternatives, like generics and biosimilars.
The number of Big Pharma price increases on brand name drugs since the beginning of 2024, according to data from MM+M and The Wall Street Journal.
The median percentage increase of Big Pharma’s price increases in January 2025, significantly exceeding the 2.7 rate of inflation at the time.
The median annual launch price of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, up 35 percent compared to the previous year, according to a February 2024 analysis from Reuters.
Big Pharma’s price hikes outpaced inflation on nearly 1,000 popular medications every year except one between 2006 and 2020, according to a January 2024 analysis by AARP.
Polling from Fabrizio Ward found that 62 percent of voters blame drug companies for the high price of Rx drugs in the country.
Legislation Would Remove Regulatory Barriers to Foster Greater Competition…
Big Pharma is at it again, working overtime to pass a policy that would cost…