Pharmaceutical companies are increasing the price of over 700 medications, including the popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro.
The average price increase at the beginning of the year was about 4.5%. This shows a slightly slower pace compared with the five prior years when drug prices rose about 5% each year on average.
Part of the major increases are Ozempic and Mounjaro, two drugs that belong to a class of medications called GLP-1 agonists.
These drugs help diabetics regulate their blood sugar. However, they've also been found to be effective weight-loss drugs, making non-diabetics seek out the drugs to slim down. As a result, these drugs have been in great demand, leading to their scarcity.
The price of Ozempic, which Novo Nordisk manufactures, rose 3.5% to $984.29 for a month's supply, while Eli Lilly's Mounjaro rose 4.5% to about $1,000 for a month's worth of the medication.
Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CBS MoneyWatch reported that Novo Nordisk raises the list price of some of its medicines annually in response to changes in the health care system, market conditions, and inflation.
Prices are increasing this year for many other widely used drugs:
Autoimmune disease medication Enbrel rose 5% Pain medication Oxycontin rose 9% Blood thinner Plavix rose 4.7% Antidepressant Wellbutrin rose 9.9%
"Technically, most brand prescription drug list price increases occur in either January or July each year, but the greatest number take place in January (and thus, January gets all the attention)," 46 Brooklyn wrote in a blog post about the drug increases. "By our count, since 2018, more than 60% of all brand drug list price increases that occur throughout each year have been implemented in January."
As Brooklyn's analysis may not reflect what patients pay for a drug at the end of the day. The analysis is based on wholesale acquisition cost, which is the price drugmakers charge wholesalers who distribute the drugs to pharmacies. Patients may pay less due to insurance coverage as well as rebates and other discounts.
Novo Nordisk said its list price wasn't representative of what most insured patients pay out of pocket. "That's because after we set the list price, we negotiate with the companies that pay for our medicines (called payers) to ensure our products remain on their formularies so patients have access to our medicines," the company said. "These payers then work directly with health insurance companies to set prices and co-pay amounts."
Are there any price drops for drugs?
Yes, not all medications saw price hikes, with the analysis finding that about two dozen medications dropped sharply in price at year's start, including some popular insulin products.
The high cost of insulin has drawn attention from the Biden administration and health policy experts, with Human Rights Watch terming its pricing in the U.S. a human rights violation.
The decline in insulin prices comes after Medicare, the insurance program for people 65 and older, capped the monthly price of insulin at $35. That prompted some drugmakers to slash the cost of insulin for a broader group of patients.
The price of Novo Nordisk insulin products, sold under the Novolog brand name, declined 75% compared with a year earlier.
Other medications that saw price cuts include:
Erectile dysfunction drug Cialis dropped 19% Antidepressant Prozac declined 18% Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medication Advair declined from 22% to 60%, depending on the formulation
Published On: 01-25-2024
