Turns out price hikes are important to biopharma’s bottom line

Between 2014 and 2017, the 45 biggest drugs in the world saw their sales grow by $23.3 billion. But if you subtract price hikes, that number would be just $9 billion.

That’s according to a new analysis from Leerink, which, as STAT’s Ed Silverman points out, dramatically underscores how much the drug industry relies on pricing power to keep itself in the black.

Notably, those price hikes have significantly declined over the past year, a result of political pressure and a few voluntary pledges on the part of industry. That, Leerink points out, is an ominous sign that the powers that be in pharma are set for some disappointing financial returns in the coming years.

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