Pfizer Inc on Friday said it would raise US prices on 41 drugs in January, reversing a price freeze implemented over the summer in the face of criticism by US President Donald Trump.
The increases, which are to take effect on Jan. 15, apply to just 10 percent of its entire drug portfolio and would in many cases be offset by discounts to patients provided through insurance companies and drug benefits, Pfizer said.
Trump said the company “should be ashamed” after it raised prices in July, after which Pfizer reversed its increases, although a spokesperson at the time said the freeze would remain in place only until the end of the year.
A Pfizer spokeswoman on Friday declined to specify which drugs would be subject to the 5 percent price hike.
The Wall Street Journal in July reported that those to go up in price included a lung cancer treatment, blood pressure pills and the pain medication Lyrica.
Three drugs are to see prices rise 3 percent, while one would jump 9 percent “due to the completion of two extensive development programs that have led to the recent [US Food and Drug Administration] FDA approvals of two new medical uses that meet unmet patient needs.”
“Given the higher rebates and discounts, we expect that the healthcare system will share those benefits with patients so they do not experience higher costs for their medicines,” the company said.
The increases are not expected to affect revenue next year, while prices subtracted 1 percent from revenue this year, Pfizer said.
While Pfizer regularly takes price increases throughout the year, these planned increases are fewer in number than it usually takes.
However, US officials criticized the announcement.
The move illustrates the “perverse incentives of America’s drug pricing system,” US Health and Human Services spokesman Alex Azar said.
The company’s share price closed with a gain of 0.7 percent to US$43.51 in New York trading on Friday.
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