The start of the new year is typically a time when people make big changes around health—and drug companies are no exception.
As of Jan. 1, more than 250 branded drugs from pharmaceutical giants including Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi-Pasteur, Merck, Pfizer, and more will see price hikes in the U.S., according to data analysis conducted by health care research firm 3 Axis Advisors.
Pfizer alone is raising prices on over 60 drugs, the most on the list. (Pfizer has nearly 500 products in its portfolio.) In addition to a 3% increase on Paxlovid, its COVID treatment, Pfizer’s cancer drugs Adcetris and Ibrance, as well as arthritis treatment Xeljanz, will now cost between 3% and 5% more, according to Reuters.
The median increase—which is only to the list price and does not include rebates or other discounts—is similar year over year at 4.5%. Still, more drugs are getting higher price tags in 2025 compared with last year.
Pfizer told Fortune in a statement: “Pfizer has adjusted the average list prices of our medicines and vaccines for 2025 below the overall rate of inflation—approximately 2.4%—across many products in our diverse product portfolio. The modest increase is necessary to support investments that allow us to continue to discover and deliver new medicines as well as address increased costs throughout our business.”
Higher prices on new drugs?
In the U.S., prescription drug prices are significantly higher compared with those in similarly wealthy countries.
Experts say a backlash forced drugmakers to scale back on annual increases less than a decade ago, but drug launch prices continue to rise, which results in “payers restricting access, raising premiums, or imposing unaffordable out-of-pocket costs for patients,” according to a 2022 article published in JAMA, in which researchers analyzed trends in drug launch prices between 2008 and 2021.
Reuters analyzed prices for new drugs in February of 2024 and found that U.S. launch prices were 35% higher in 2023 compared with 2022.
“Drugmakers don’t have much real estate any longer to increase prices over time, which means taking greater liberties on launch prices is really the only option they have in the face of expanded penalties for year-over-year price increases,” 3 Axis president Antonio Ciaccia told Reuters about the 2025 planned drug increases.
Additional price increases will likely be announced by drugmakers this month.
