Pfizer Hikes Prices on 121 Drugs, Report Says

A new report on drug pricing shows that Pfizer rang in the new year by hiking prices on 121 of its prescription drugs.

A report issued earlier in January by investment firm UBS Securities shows that Pfizer raised the list price on drugs ranging from the hemophilia drug Benefix to the antidepressant Pristiq beginning Jan. 1. The report covers all price hikes among major manufacturers slated to take effect this month.

The document shows that all of the drugs’ prices climbed a minimum of 2.9 percent, with three reaching as high as 20 percent. The majority of Pfizer drugs listed in the report rose between 9 percent and 10 percent.

Pfizer wasn’t the only drugmaker raising prices for the new year. The report shows that Allergan had the second-highest number of price hikes to kick in Jan. 1, with 53. Most of the increases were between 8 percent and 9.9 percent. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had the third-highest number of increases with 26. Like Pfizer and Allergan, all of Teva’s price hikes took effect on Jan. 1, the report shows.

A spokesman for Pfizer said company officials “do not dispute” the report’s claims, adding that the “list price does not reflect the considerable discounts offered to the government, managed care organizations and commercial health plans and certain programs that restrict any increases above the inflation rate.”