Pharmalot is back, and in full-stride -- this morning, as he points out that big pharma is busily imposing price increases in the US -- likely in advance of the inevitable price pressure that will accompany any final health care reform package:
. . . .During this year’s third quarter, eight of the biggest drug makers undertook hefty price increases - the average among this group was 8.7 percent, easily outdistancing the core Consumer Price Index of 1.4 percent, according to a recent research report by Credit Suisse analyst Catherine Arnold. . . .
Who led the pack? Schering-Plough (soon to be bought by Merck) with a 12.8 percent hike. . . .
And, of course, Schering-Plough's government and institutional sales people can safely shrug and largely ignore any customer complaints about the price hikes, as in most cases, by mid 2010, those accounts will be staffed by "New Merck" people. Just as certainly, these new Merckies will be able to say they "inherited" these pricing structures -- from "Old Schering-ites". Yep -- a simply transparent push-me, pull-you dodge.
Hopefully, there will real negotiations over price, once the payer/reimbursement mix in the reform package is settled-in. That will be needed, to knock prices back in line, in the US. [On the Consumer Health Care side, though, J&J posted lower quarterly sales, for the third quarter 2009 in the US this morning -- so what is being gained in these price increases, may be lost, again in reduced volumes. We'll see, when Schering-Plough reports on next Thursday.]
