Report Finds Drug Prices Rising Despite Trump Pricing Deals

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By HealthDay Staff HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, Senior Medical Editor, B. Pharm. Last updated on April 20, 2026.

via HealthDay

MONDAY, April 20, 2026 — A new U.S. Senate report, released by Sen. Bernie Sanders, found that drug companies involved in price deals with President Donald Trump have continued to raise prices on hundreds of medications.

Some new drugs are also launching with very high costs, NBC News reported.

On average, new drugs carried a price tag of about $353,000 a year, the report said.

“American people continue to pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders, a Vermont Independent, said at a hearing last week. "In most cases, it is even more accurate today."

The report looked at drugs used to treat serious conditions like cancer, multiple sclerosis and other rare diseases, NBC News said.

Several well-known medications saw price increases. Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda rose 6% to about $210,000 a year. In comparison, the same drug costs about $37,900 in Japan and $88,100 in France.

Novartis’ multiple sclerosis drug Kesimpta increased by nearly $10,500 to about $141,000 a year. In Germany, it costs about $17,300, and in Canada about $23,500.

Another cancer drug, Opdivo from Bristol Myers Squibb, rose 4% to about $260,000 annually, which is more than double the price in countries like France and the United Kingdom, NBC News said.

The report also pointed out newer treatments with extremely high prices. Johnson & Johnson’s Inlexzo launched at a price of about $1 million, while AbbVie’s Emrelis costs around $719,000. AstraZeneca’s Datroway is priced near $419,000.

Gene therapies could be even more expensive. Novartis’ Itvisma has a list price of about $2.59 million, and its treatment Zolgensma rose to more than $2.5 million for a single dose.

The findings pose questions about the impact of the administration’s “most favored nation” pricing approach, which aims to bring U.S. drug prices closer to those in other wealthy countries with lower costs, NBC News said.

But experts are still unclear about how effective those deals really are.

“One of the more frustrating aspects of recent drug pricing announcements has been the lack of transparency into the so-called deals that are being made by the administration,” Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, told NBC News.

“Once you dig into the details, it appears that the administration’s efforts to date have mostly served to help drug companies," she added.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai pushed back, telling NBC News that the report focuses on "prescription drug list prices, which are meaningless because they do not reflect the actual purchase prices that patients pay at the pharmacy counter.”

Experts note, though, that higher list prices can lead to higher costs for insurers and, in some cases, patients.

Antonio Ciaccia is CEO of the nonprofit 46brooklyn, which tracks drug prices. He told NBC News that many drugs not included in the deals have seen little to no change.

It’s been “business as usual and this year is no different,” he said.

The report also found that drugmakers’ profits rose sharply last year, reaching $177 billion, up from $107 billion in 2024.

Sources

  • NBC News, April 16, 2026

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Posted : 2026-04-21 01:59

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