Prices for 688 prescription medications have increased since President Donald Trump took office, according to a Sept. 29 report from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office. Mr. Sanders is the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The report marks 60 days since President Trump sent letters to 17 major drugmakers requesting price reductions. In that time, 87 drugs have gone up in price, with a median increase of 8%. Companies including Merck, Sanofi and Genentech raised prices after receiving the administration’s request.
The largest increase was for Galzin, a Wilson’s disease treatment from Eton Pharmaceuticals. Its price rose 1,555%, from $5,400 to $88,800 per year in the U.S., according to the report.
Other drugs cited in the report were Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda, the price of which rose by $8,000 to $206,000 per year. Johnson & Johnson raised the price of blood thinner Xarelto by 5% to $7,200.
Vertex raised the U.S. price of cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta by nearly $24,000 to $365,000.
One day after the report’s release, the Trump administration reached a pricing agreement with Pfizer, which became the first drugmaker to comply with his administration’s “most-favored-nation” policy. The company will offer most medications to Medicaid at the lowest price sold in other wealthy countries and discount some drugs by 50% to 100% for all consumers.
