With pricing pressure building on the biopharma industry and President Trump promising companies will take significant action, Merck & Co. Inc. has joined the ranks of companies pledging to scale back on price increases, committing to keeping the increase in the average net price across its portfolio within inflation levels. The company will also cut the list price of hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug Zepatier by 60% and slice a sliver off of six other products – but those drugs contribute minimal sales and Merck has previously discussed Zepatier's declining sales.
Merck's New Pricing Pledge Shows Style Over Substance
A 60% price reduction on hepatitis C drug Zepatier sounds impressive, but the drug has been declining and the HCV space overall is shrinking. Another set of 10% reductions come on small-sellers that are now generic.
More from Drug Pricing
More from Scrip
• By
The IL-4/IL-13 inhibitor has been approved in the US as the first targeted therapy in over a decade for chronic itching.
• By
Japanese incubator Ciconia has just started verifying its first drug candidate with a vision of building domestic startups with globally competitive assets.
• By
Deal Snapshot: Sanofi obtained global rights to a pair of bispecific antibody candidates for autoimmune and inflammatory bowel disorders from Helixon-affiliated AI firm Earendil.