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 A letter to Stephen Ubl, president of the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), was signed by 12 Democrats as
well as Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent. It asks PhRMA to
explain the source of the price increases, and asks for information
about research costs and revenue from the medicines.
"The large, across-the-board price increases of popular, brand name
prescription drugs appear to be an example of pharmaceutical
companies taking advantage of their abusive market power to expand
already large profits," the lawmakers wrote.
A spokesperson for PhRMA, Brian Newell, said drug prices rose just
1.3% last year and that the letter put a "myopic focus" on
drugmakers that fails to take into account others involved in high
U.S. healthcare costs.
"This letter ignores abusive insurance practices that force patients
to pay the full cost of medicines while at the same time middlemen
pocket record rebates and discounts from drugmakers," Newell said in
a statement.
The lawmakers, who included Representative Katie Porter, cited two
studies: one by Dr. Stephen Schondelmeyer of the University of
Minnesota and another by the Johns Hopkins Drug Access and
Affordability Initiative, which focused on 20 prescription medicines
that the Medicare Part D program spends the most on.
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 Schondelmeyer's study found that drugmakers
increased prices for 72% of the 100 top-selling
drugs in early 2022, with 26% of brand name
drugs showing higher prices.
The Johns Hopkins study found higher prices for
16 of the top 20 Medicare Part D drugs in
January. Among the widely used
drugs in the Medicare program cited in the letter were Novo
Nordisk's Victoza 2-Pak for type 2 diabetes, which had a price
increase of 4.8% to $709.74. Novo Nordisk spokesman Michael Bachner
in a statement said that the company "committed in 2016 to keep
annual list price increases below 10% and we have kept true to that
commitment." Other drugs cited included AbbVie's big-selling
rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira Pen and leukemia drug
Imbruvica, which saw their prices go up 7.4%. The price of Pfizer's
breast cancer drug Ibrance rose 6.9%, while the price of blood clot
preventer Eliquis, sold by Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer increased
6%, the letter said.
Representatives for other drugmakers did not comment.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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