According to statistics compiled by global information services company Wolters Kluwer, Pfizer raised US prices for more than 100 of its drugs, some by as much as 20%, on January 1. FYI: tax dodging Pfizer, which will report its 2015 earnings February 2, posted biopharmaceutical revenue of $45.7 billion in 2014, including US sales of $17.2 billion.
Reuters reported:
Pfizer confirmed a 9.4% increase for heavily advertised pain drug Lyrica, which generated $2.3 billion in 2014 US sales; a 12.9% increase for erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, which had 2014 US sales of $1.1 billion; and a 5% increase for Ibrance, a novel breast cancer drug launched last year at a list price of $9,850 per month, or $118,200 per year.
Pfizer moved offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Last year, It raked in $45.7 billion. Now it’s raising drug prices. Corporate integrity.
— SEMayer (@semayer) January 10, 2016
Pfizer Which Has $160 BILLION Merger Deal With Ireland’s Allergan To Avoid U.S. Taxes, Hikes U.S. Prices On 100 Meds https://t.co/js32QSrYLP
— Kitty Bhagat (@KittyBhagat) January 9, 2016
Why USA should pay Irish drug prices if #pfizer pays Irish tax rates https://t.co/gnHGGmEkwr @pfizer @pfizer_news raised prices on drugs
— Afshine Emrani M.D. (@afshineemrani) January 8, 2016
However, Pfizer defended the hike:
“Medicines are among the most effective and efficient use of private and public health care dollars. It is important to note 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.”
Pfizer is by no means the only drugmaker to raise prices. On January 1, Vanda Pharmaceuticals too raised the price of its new drug Hetlioz, which treats a sleep disorder in blind people, by 10%, to $148,000 a year. The price of the once-daily capsule is now 76% higher than when it was introduced in 2014.
Pfizer produces the drug fluconazole (AIDS drug) and it refuses to grant the generic license to it, which would save millions of lives.
— Injustice (@injustice836) January 10, 2016
Pfizer is being investigated for off-label marketing of kidney transplant drug Rapamune and targeting African-Americans.
— EYE opening Facts (@omg_shock_omg) January 1, 2016
John Rother, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care, opined:
“A 10 percent increase every year is the definition of an unsustainable trend. It’s the fastest rising part of the health care market basket and it’s putting unsustainable pressure on health care finance generally. From a political standpoint, it’s pretty presumptuous to raise prices that aggressively in the face of criticism across the board… It’s almost like they’re daring Congress to act.”
Turing Pharmaceuticals and its former CEO, Martin Shkreli, first prompted public outrage last fall following reports that the company had increased by more than 5,000% the price of Daraprim, a 62-year-old drug used to treat a life-threatening infection, boosting it from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
$PFE price hike up to 20% of over 100 drugs in US https://t.co/xmspsZARDx Playing same game as Turing is not good for $IBB $GILD $CELG
— DayTraderBio (@DayTraderBio) January 10, 2016
#Pharma Bros: Rotten Apples (e.g., Pfizer & Turing) & Rotten Systems (U.S. Drug Prices) https://t.co/2OXqD8OYX8 pic.twitter.com/EkZVMPL5UE
— Pharma Guy (@pharmaguy) December 23, 2015
This Article (Pfizer Quietly Hiked US Prices For Over 100 Drugs, Including Viagra, While You Were Celebrating The New Year) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
You might want to vet your info and sources better, especially if they come from Twitter, Facebook or other social media. Twitter user @injustice836 is incorrect in his statement about Pfizer holding the patent on fluconazole and refusing to release it. Pfizer makes a branded fluconazole as Diflucan, but fluconazole itself is a generic drug that is manufactured by more than 400 companies. Fluconazole is used to treat fungal infections. IMHO – Pfizer did take advantage of the fact that fungal infections are opportunistic in AIDS/HIV patients and found yet another way to get richer.