Large drug manufacturers, including the American Pfizer, plan to increase the prices of
more than 300 drugs in the country
as of January 1, the Reuters agency reported, based on information from the companies themselves, as well as from the firm. health research 3 Axis Advisors.
This increase comes to help
offset the loss of company revenue
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to companies that allege that demand for some drugs has dropped since the start of the pandemic.
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"This modest increase is necessary to support investments that allow us to
continue discovering new drugs
and deliver those advances to patients who need them," US Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose said in a statement, in which she emphasized the vaccine. against COVID-19, which the company developed with the German BioNTech.
Pfizer plans to raise the prices of
more than 60 drugs
, between 0.5% and 5%.
What drugs are getting more expensive?
The
vaccine against herpes Shingrix
, as well as those for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough Pediarix, from GSK, will increase between 7 and 8.6%, according to the 3 Axis firm.
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The
asthma asteroid Qvar
, from the company Teva Pharmaceuticals, registered a 6% increase, as well as the
muscle relaxant Amrix
and the narcolepsy treatment Nuvigil, of up to 9.4%, both from the same company.
It is expected that this Friday, and in the following days,
more price increases will be announced
.
In 2020, the price of more than 860 drugs increased, on average by 5%, the firm says.
The price of the
drugmaker's rheumatoid arthritis treatments Xeljanz
and cancer drugs Ibrance and Inlyta increased by 5%.
The United States is one of the countries with the highest drug prices.
The outgoing president promised in his 2016 campaign to cut them down, but earlier this month a federal judge blocked a rule to do so, following protests from pharmaceutical industry groups.
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President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to cut costs and allow the Medicare medical program to negotiate these prices.
It is not the first time that the sector increases the price of medicines.
Last year it already did, claiming that the cost of these was increasing at a slower rate than in previous years.
With information from Reuters.
