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First Round Of Drugs Up For Medicare Negotiation Gets Soft Landing

Stock Market Shrugs; Biotechs Rise Slightly

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Big pharma valuations mostly held steady as CMS released its list of the first 10 drugs subject to Medicare negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, which held few surprises and included products nearing the end of their patent lives by the time negotiated pricing takes effect.

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Four of the 10 drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations treat diabetes • Source: Shutterstock

For all of the biopharmaceutical industry’s concerns that drug pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act will stifle innovation, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its list of the first 10 drugs subject to Medicare negotiations under the IRA, the stock market reaction was “meh.” Biotechnology stock indices closed up on 29 August and most of the big pharma firms facing Medicare negotiations for the first time in 2026 closed a bit higher as well.

Investors likely were nonplussed because the list was largely in line with expectations, including the anticoagulants Eliquis (apixaban) from

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