US pharma firms raise drug prices

Pfizer has raised the price of Paxlovid, the anti-COVID medicine, by 3 per cent, the migraine treatment, Nurtec, and cancer drug Adcetris between 3 per cent and 5 percent. The company’s spokesperson Amy Rose said that the increases were needed to support drug development and meet the costs.

She has however said that the list of medicines whose prices have been increased – there are 60 – has been adjusted to stay below the inflation rate of 2.4 per cent. The American drug companies are used to increase the prices of medicines by a larger margin but they have kept it below 10 per cent this year because of public criticism.

The other pharmaceuticals that are raising the drug prices are Bristol Myers, which has increased its cancer cell therapy medicines, Abecma and Breyanzi, by 6 per cent and 9 per cent. A Bryers Bristol spokesperson said that the company is “committed to achieve unfettered” access to patients, and pointed out that the rise in price of Breyanzi “is reflective of the potentially transformative, individualised treatment in a one-time infusion.”

The French pharma major, Sanofi, has raised its prices of vaccines between 2.9 per cent and 9 per cent. The exception is Leadiant Pharmaceuticals, a branch of Italy’s Essetifin, which raised the price of its cancer drug Matulane, used in Hodgkin’s disease treatment, by 15 per cent, and of Cystaran, used in the treatment of a rare eye condition called cystinosis, by 20 per cent.

According to experts, the drug companies do not have much leeway to increase the prices of medicines except at the time of launching new ones. The news agency Reuters analysis shows that the price of new medicines was higher by 35 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022. According to healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors President Antonio Ciaccia, “Drug-makers do not have much real estate any longer to increase prices over time, which means taking liberties on launch prices is really the only option they have in the face of expanded penalties for year-over-year price increases.”

The issue of healthcare in one of the most advanced countries, in terms of both scientific research and economic output, has become a matter of concern because healthcare has become unaffordable to most people in the US despite their complicated health insurance arrangements.

As a matter of fact health insurance in America is considered one of the most predatory systems in the world. This came to the fore when Luigi Mangione killed United Health CEO Brian Thompson last month. On the face of it, the rise in the price of drugs and the issue of health insurance might appear unconnected, and there will be many who would argue that they are separate issues.

But there is a connection. Health insurance would be less of a problem if the drug prices are reasonable and within reach of the common people, and the hospital establishments would not be in a position to make treatment a costly business.

Health care in American needs an overhaul, not just in terms of health insurance but also in terms of drug prices and hospital expenses. The whole thing is in a mess because the free market principle of competition and profits makes it a vile venture.

The drug companies have an argument that they need to spend money on research and development to get new, breakthrough drugs. But if pharma R&D is moved to the public sector sphere, which does not seem to exist in the US, then things can be rationalised.

If government funding of R&D increases through universities and research laboratories, then commercial companies making drugs would have little justification to make profits through higher prices. And this will have a cascading effect across the whole health care system.