Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 350 branded medications, including vaccines against COVID, RSV, and shingles, as well as the blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance, despite the Trump administration’s pressures for cuts, reports BritPanorama.
The number of price increases for 2026 has risen from over 250 drugs announced at the same time last year. This year’s median price hikes are around 4%—in line with those of 2025. Significantly, the increases do not account for any rebates to pharmacy benefit managers or other discounts.
Drugmakers also cut some prices
In addition to price increases, drugmakers plan to cut list prices on approximately nine drugs. Notable among these is Boehringer Ingelheim’s diabetes drug Jardiance, which will see a reduction of more than 40% for this and three related treatments.
Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which co-market Jardiance, have not responded to requests for comment regarding the reasons behind these price cuts. Jardiance is among the ten drugs for which the U.S. government has negotiated lower prices under the Medicare program for individuals aged 65 and older in 2026; the price has been slashed by two-thirds as part of these negotiations.
U.S. patients currently face the highest costs for prescription medicines, often paying nearly three times more than counterparts in other developed nations. Trump has been urging pharmaceutical companies to lower prices to match those in similarly wealthy countries.
The new prices for 350 drugs arrive even as the Trump administration has struck deals with 14 pharmaceutical companies on selected medicines for the government’s Medicaid programme for low-income Americans and for cash payers. These companies, including Pfizer, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and GSK, have also indicated plans to increase prices on certain drugs effective January 1.
“These deals are being announced as transformative when, in fact, they really just nibble around the margins in terms of what is really driving high prices for prescription drugs in the U.S.,” said Dr. Benjamin Rome, a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Rome added that the companies appear to be raising prices while negotiating discounts privately with health insurers, thereby establishing another separate price for cash-pay purchases by consumers.
An HHS spokesman declined to comment on the situation.
Keeping up with inflation
Pfizer has announced the most significant list price hikes, affecting around 80 drugs, including the cancer drug Ibrance, migraine medication Nurtec, and COVID treatment Paxlovid, along with substances administered in hospitals such as morphine and hydromorphone.
Most of Pfizer’s increases are below 10%, although the COVID vaccine Comirnaty will see a 15% increase, and several hospital drugs have experienced price hikes of more than four-fold.
Pfizer contends that it has adjusted the average list price of its innovative medicines and vaccines for 2026 to align below the overall rate of inflation.
The modest price increases come as larger price hikes were once common in the U.S. Drugmakers have since moderated these increases due to growing scrutiny from lawmakers and new government measures that penalize companies whose Medicare program prices rise faster than inflation.
European drugmaker GSK plans to increase prices on around 20 drugs and vaccines between 2% and 8.9%. The company states that these adjustments are necessary to support scientific innovation and are committed to maintaining reasonable prices.
Sanofi and Novartis did not respond to inquiries regarding their pricing strategies. Further price hikes and reductions are anticipated in early January, traditionally a peak period for such adjustments by drug manufacturers.
3 Axis Advisors, the consultancy involved in this analysis, collaborates with pharmacist groups, health plans, and certain pharmaceutical industry-related entities on issues surrounding drug pricing and supply chains, sharing staff with the non-profit 46brooklyn.
The landscape for pharmaceutical pricing continues to evolve, with stakeholders closely monitoring developments as 2026 approaches.
