Merck's New Pricing Pledge Shows Style Over Substance

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.

"We commit to not increase the average net price across our portfolio of products by more than inflation annually," Merck said in a July 19 statement, which noted that the average net price across its US portfolio declined by 1.9% in 2017