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TexasTowelie

(111,278 posts)
Wed Jul 11, 2018, 02:23 AM Jul 2018

Drugmakers cancel some price increases after California law takes effect

A handful of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies are canceling or reducing some planned price increases in the United States after California enacted a new drug pricing transparency law and amid political pressure over rising costs for medications.

The California law, which began to take effect this year, requires drugmakers to give insurers, governments and drug purchasers advance notice of large price increases as a way of publicly pressuring pharmaceutical companies to keep prices down. In the past three weeks, Novartis AG, Gilead Sciences Inc., Roche Holding AG and Novo Nordisk A/S sent notices to California health plans rescinding or reducing previously announced price hikes on at least 10 drugs.

This isn’t necessarily a long-term or wide-ranging result, however. An expert cautioned that the drugmakers’ moves might be “a smokescreen” to obscure their intentions.

The affected drugs include multibillion-dollar blockbusters such as Novartis’ psoriasis drug Cosentyx as well as less popular products, such as its Entresto for heart failure and Gilead’s drugs Letairis for pulmonary hypertension and Ranexa for angina. The changes were described by a health plan official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information isn’t yet public. Drugmakers confirmed most of the pricing decisions.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drug-prices-20180710-story.html

Cross-posted in the General Discussion forum and Health Group.

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