In true drug-pricing fashion, on July 1, more drugs increased in price. In total, 37 brand drugs increased in list price—by as much as 20%.
Introduction
The list price is the official price that is set by the manufacturer. While few people pay the list price of the drug, the price is a good marker for how much the drug costs.
Most of the drugs that increased in price are specialty drugs that few people take. But the majority of them were already expensive and only continue to increase in price.
Here are some common brand-name drugs whose prices went up on July 1.
| Drug | Manufacturer | Percent increase | List price per unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proleukin | Prometheus Laboratories | 20.0% | $4,683.60 per 1.3 mg vial |
| Oravig | Midatech Pharmaceuticals | 9.9% | $72.25 per 50 mg buccal tablet |
| Arikayce | Insmed Inc. | 8.0% | $46.67 per 590 mg/8.4 ml vial |
| Perforomist | Mylan | 5.1% | $8.51 per 2 ml vial |
| Perforomist | Abbvie | 5.0% | $97.57 per 100 mg tablet |
| Tibsovo | Agios Pharmaceuticals | 5.0% | $457.01 per 250 mg tablet |
| Estrogel | Ascend Therapeutics | 4.9% | $2.55 per 0.06% gram of gel |
| Xermelo | Lexicon Pharmaceuticals | 4.9% | $74.44 per 250 mg dose pack |
| Nuplazid | Acadia Pharmaceuticals | 4.8% | $106.20 per 34 mg capsule |
| Cabometyx | Exelixis | 4.5% | $639.73 per 60 mg tablet |
| Alecensa | Genentech | 3.0% | $62.28 per 150 mg capsule |
| Xolair | Genentech | 2.0% | $1,106.36 per 150 mg vial |
July price bumps aren’t new
While unfortunate, these price changes are expected. Every year, some manufacturers increase the price of their drugs at the beginning and middle of the year—around January 1 and July 1.
For instance, this past January, 486 drugs increased by an average of 5.2%, and this July, exactly six months later, 37 brand drugs increased by an average of 4.3%. These percentages are no coincidence, and they are actually part of a common drug manufacturer pricing strategy.
Xermelo, for example, is manufactured by Lexicon Pharmaceuticals and is used to treat symptoms of carcinoid tumors. On January 1, 2019, Lexicon increased the price for Xermelo by 4.9%, and exactly six monthly later Xermelo increased by another 4.9%. So this year so far, Xermelo has increased by 9.8% in total.
Back in 2019, some manufacturers pledged to keep their yearly price hikes under 10%, and since then, price increases for many drugs have averaged around 9.9%. But instead of increasing the price of their drug by 9.9% once a year, some manufacturers attempt to fly under the radar and increase their drug’s price by around 5% twice a year.
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Co-contributor: Jeroen van Meijgaard, PhD
Methodology: Prices in this analysis are the list price, which is the price the pharmaceutical company assigns as an official price for a drug, as of July 15. This list excludes any generic medications, over-the-counter medications, and medications that are administered under the supervision of a healthcare provider.
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