Drugmakers Kick Off 2020 With Price Hikes

Big-name drug companies have ncreased their list prices for more than 300& brand-name drugs in the new year, marking another year of early January price hikes.

According to drug pricing watchdog GoodRx, 321 brand-name drugs out of 2,555 it tracks have seen their list prices increase an average of 5.2 percent.

A similar analysis by Rx Savings Solutions, which sells software to help employers and health plans choose the least-expensive medicines, said the average price increase at the start of the new year was 5.8 percent but its analysis included increases on different doses for the same drug.

The number of price hikes at the beginning of the year — a pharma industry tradition — have gone down considerably from 2018, which saw a more brazen 580 brand drugs hiked an average of 8 percent, according to the GoodRx analysis. Last year, 486 brand drugs went up in price by an average of 5.2 percent at the start of the year.