January 9, 2026
TOPLINE
New year, same egregious pricing practices from Big Pharma. Brand name pharmaceutical companies increased prices on hundreds of brand name prescription drugs to start the year. According to Reuters, Big Pharma started 2026 with price hikes on at least 350 brand name drugs, “including vaccines against COVID, RSV and shingles and blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance.” “More price hikes and cuts can be expected in early January, which is historically the biggest month for drugmakers to raise prices,” according to Reuters. Read more on Big Pharma’s egregious price hikes to start the year HERE.
Also, In case you missed it, a recent study published in JAMA Health Forum highlights how Big Pharma has been increasingly relying on secondary and tertiary patents that are unconnected to the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in top-selling drugs, in order to extend monopoly pricing. As coverage of the study in Inside Health Policy notes, “[d]rugmakers are systematically extending monopolies across hundreds of medicines — from birth control and migraine treatments to cancer therapies and heart drugs — by patenting delivery devices and peripheral technologies that often have little to do with the drugs themselves.” Read more on the study in JAMA Health Forum HERE.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Big Pharma’s price increases to kickoff 2026 already surpass its pace at this same time last year, demonstrating brand name drug companies are not slowing down in their business-as-usual approach to price-gouging the American people.”
Lauren Aronson, executive director, CSRxP
DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Nearly Half
The number of U.S. adults who report that pleasant and happy visuals in pharmaceutical ads are unrealistic and out of touch, and misleading, according to recent data from SiriusXM Media.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@P4AD_: “A statement from Chuck Hurley, Board Chair of Patients For Affordable Drugs and David’s close friend of more than 40 years, honoring David’s life and legacy following his passing on Friday. https://www.patientsforaffordabledrugs.org/2026/01/05/remembering-david-mitchell-a-life-dedicated-to-public-health/”
@JAMAHealthForum: “Device-focused patents extended exclusivity for over half of FDA-approved drug-device combinations by a median of 7.5 years, frequently without mentioning active ingredients. https://ja.ma/4qCdmST”
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Inside Health Policy: Sponsor Urges Congress To Act On Stalled DTC Pricing Legislation
Rep. Dave Taylor (R-OH), one of two lawmakers spearheading bipartisan legislation that would order drug companies to provide pricing information in all direct-to-consumer advertising, urged his colleagues on the House Energy & Commerce Committee to advance the bill and cement into law a policy change the first Trump administration attempted to make through regulation. The Drug-price Transparency for Consumers (DTC) Act would require all drug companies to disclose the price of their products in advertising targeted directly to consumers. Taylor and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced the House version of the bill in June, months after Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced a Senate version.
AARP: 3 Big Medicare Prescription Drug Changes Coming in 2026
Big changes have come to Medicare’s prescription drug coverage, known as Part D, that could affect how you pay for your medications — and how much you pay in 2026. Here’s what you need to know… Part D enrollees will face a $2,100 cap on annual out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses in 2026, up from $2,000 in 2025, when the cap was introduced. The $100 increase, a 5 percent hike, reflects what will be an annual adjustment to the Part D benefit. The 2026 amount is based on the percentage increase in average spending for covered Part D drugs that occurred in 2024.
PHARMA’S POOR PROGNOSIS
Reuters: Exclusive: Drugmakers Raise US Prices On 350 Medicines Despite Pressure From Trump
Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 350 branded medications including vaccines against COVID, RSV and shingles and blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance, even as the Trump administration pressures them for cuts, according to data provided exclusively by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. The number of price increases for 2026 is up from the same point last year, when drugmakers unveiled plans for raises on more than 250 drugs. The median of this year's price hikes is around 4% - in line with 2025. The increases do not reflect any rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and other discounts.
BioSpace: Pfizer Leads Industry-Wide Surge in Drug Prices for 2026 Despite Political Pressure
Drugmakers plan to raise the U.S. prices of 40% more drugs in 2026 than they did in 2025—despite pressure from President Donald Trump to charge less. Specifically, more than a dozen Big Pharmas have now reached Most Favored Nation agreements with the White House. Nevertheless, drugmakers plan to raise the U.S. prices of at least 350 branded medications, Reuters reported based on data from healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. That’s compared to the 250 or so drugs whose prices companies moved to raise at the start of 2025. At 4%, the median price increase this year is the same as in 2025 and in line with the average since the industry scaled back its annual price hikes in 2019.
Inside Health Policy: Study: From Birth Control To Cancer Drugs, Device Patents Stretch Market Exclusivity
Drugmakers are systematically extending monopolies across hundreds of medicines -- from birth control and migraine treatments to cancer therapies and heart drugs -- by patenting delivery devices and peripheral technologies that often have little to do with the drugs themselves, according to a new analysis published in JAMA Health Forum. The findings suggest that recent enforcement efforts by the Federal Trade Commission and court rulings targeting inhalers and insulin or GLP-1 injector pens capture only a fraction of the scope of device-based patenting strategies that can delay generic entry.
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