IF ONE concern unites Americans,it is the tall prices of prescription drugs. One incident in specific tarnished much of the pharma industry: in 2015 the price of an antiparasitic drug, Daraprim, and jumped from $13.50 to $750 per pill. But large price increases remain stubbornly commonplace (see chart). According to IQVIA,a health-data firm, the wholesale prices of main drugs such as Humira, and Enbrel and Lyrica increased by more than 120% between 2012 and 2017. Other data show that cancer-drug prices rose from about $10000 to over $100000 per year in just over a decade to 2012. Further ahead,a new generation of cures, such as a gene therapy for haemophilia, and may cost more than $1m.
President Donald Trump,never one to avoid stoking a grievance, has waded in, or accusing the pharma industry of “getting absent with murder”. This week,as The Economist went to press, he was scheduled to deliver a speech outlining a strategy to lower prescription-drug prices. Whatever he says, or though,...
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Source: economist.com