January 16, 2026
TOPLINE
On Tuesday, CSRxP released a new analysis finding the pharmaceutical industry continues to post profit margins 10 times higher than other sectors of the prescription drug supply chain. The report confirms Big Pharma’s egregious pricing practices and anti-competitive playbook continue to drive blockbuster profits while keeping prescription drug prices high for American patients — even as the pharmaceutical industry continues to point fingers at others and oppose market-based solutions to lower prescription drug prices, falsely claiming they would undermine innovation into new cures. The full analysis can be accessed HERE.
And on Thursday, CSRxP launched a new advertising campaign highlighting how Big Pharma’s patent abuse tactics and egregious pricing practices are the root cause of high prescription drug costs, and a major driver of health care inflation, in America. The new ad introduces “Phil the Pill, a new character who highlights the many ways Big Pharma tries to “disguise the truth” of brand name manufacturers’ role in making prescription drugs and health care unaffordable for too many Americans — by pointing fingers at others and relying on debunked innovation rhetoric. Watch CSRxP’s new ad “Master of Disguise” HERE.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Brand name drug companies’ consistently posting profit margins 10 times higher than others in the drug supply chain adds to the overwhelming evidence that pharmaceutical industry opposition to market-based solutions to lower drug prices is about protecting profits, not innovation, and further undermines Big Pharma’s self-serving blame game designed to keep drug prices high.”
Lauren Aronson, executive director, CSRxP
DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
872
The number of price hikes Big Pharma has imposed on brand name medications in just the first two weeks of January 2026, with a median increase outpacing the rate of inflation.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@IMAKglobal: “We will be closely watching how Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk adapt their patenting schemes to maintain monopoly control and delay affordable options for the GLP-1 market. To date, Novo Nordisk has filed 320 patent applications on its semaglutide products while Eli Lilly has filed 53 on its tirzepatide products. https://law360.com/classaction/articles/2426100/drugmakers-fight-multifront-legal-battles-over-glp-1s?about=classaction”
@AccessibleMeds: “Want to lower the cost of prescription medications in the U.S.? Eliminate barriers to market entry -- like patent thickets -- for generic and biosimilar medicines. READ: https://mironline.ca/opinion-the-simplest-way-to-lower-prescription-drug-prices-in-the-us/ @BiosimsCouncil”
ROAD TO RECOVERY
The McGill International Review: Opinion: The Simplest Way To Lower Prescription Drug Prices In The US
Americans pay roughly three times more for prescription drugs than consumers in other developed countries, and more than four times more for brand-name medications. One major reason these prices remain so high? Patent thickets. Patent thickets are webs of overlapping patents that make it more difficult for competitors to enter the market by forcing them to manufacture biosimilars—near-identical versions of biologic drugs designed to match the original product’s safety and effectiveness—without infringing on existing patents or risking costly litigation. The result is higher legal barriers, delayed entry of biosimilars, and reduced competition, all of which contribute to persistently high brand-name drug prices.
PHARMA’S POOR PROGNOSIS
Endpoints News: How Merck Is Mounting A Patent Defense For Keytruda, Its $150B Cash Cow
…Merck is in a rush — “with urgency,” CEO Rob Davis says — to find ways to expand its revenue sources before one of the world’s best-selling drugs loses its patent protections and smaller rivals swoop in with generic versions called biosimilars. Merck made two major buyouts last year and, ahead of next week’s annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, is rumored to be involved in a third. Now, there are mounting signs that Merck’s at work on an additional plan to stave off the worst effects of Keytruda’s so-called patent cliff, which is set to hit in December 2028, and implement a novel pricing strategy.
Inside Health Policy: CSRxP Analysis: Pharmaceutical Industry’s Profit Margins Still 10 Times Greater Than Other Sectors Of Drug Supply Chain
Pharmaceutical manufacturers’ average annual net income margin is higher than the average margin for other sectors in the U.S. prescription drug supply chain… Pharmaceutical manufacturers’ lowest average margin in a single year is higher than the highest margin of any other sector.
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