Merck Is Lowering Drug Prices. There’s a Catch.

Merck Is Lowering Drug Prices. There’s a Catch. - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/health/merck-trump-drug-prices.html

The drugmaker Merck said Thursday that it would lower prices on several drugs by 10 percent or more, but its rollback affects minor products and would not lower the cost of its top-selling, expensive cancer and diabetes products.

The move follows recent announcements by Pfizer and Novartis that they would freeze price increases for the rest of the year, as the industry confronts sustained criticism from President Trump, lawmakers and the public over the rising cost of prescriptions.

Merck’s action shows just how cautiously the industry is shifting strategies: It did not cut the prices of any blockbusters like the cancer treatment Keytruda or the diabetes drug Januvia. Instead, it said it would reduce by 60 percent the list price of Zepatier, a hepatitis C drug whose recent sales have dipped so low that, after paying after-the-fact rebates to insurers, the company recorded no sales in the United States for the product in the first quarter of this year.

The six other products that Merck said it was discounting were drugs that had lost their patent protection and are available from other manufacturers as low-cost generics.