Drug prices are increasing today as many pharmaceutical companies bump up medication prices to help offset costs and provide funds for additional research. This makes sense as drugmakers raise most of their prices in January to prepare for new health insurance plans going into effect while also acting as a clear change from 2024 prices.
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The latest drug price increases have a median of 4.5%, which matches what customers saw last year. It’s worth noting that drug price increases aren’t as high as they have been historically. For example, drugmakers raised the median price of medications by a whopping 9% in 2015.
Drugs Increasing in Price Today
With more than 250 drugs getting a price increase today, there are too many for an exhaustive list. Instead, note that many major pharmaceutical companies are increasing prices on their most popular branded medications.
Pfizer (PFE) is the drugmaker with the most increases this year, including a 3% increase for COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) hiked the price of cancer treatments Abecma by 6% and Breyanzi by 9%. Finally, Sanofi (SNY) boosted many vaccine prices between 2.9% and 9% today.
There were also some price drops today with Merck (MRK) intending to cut the price of diabetes treatments Januvia and Janumet. More price changes are expected throughout the month as drugmakers adjust their costs for 2025.
Which Drugmakers Are Worth Investing In?
Looking at the four pharmaceutical companies mentioned in this article, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Merck each have a Moderate Buy rating while Sanofi has a Hold rating. The company with the highest upside potential is Sanofi at 34.77% while the lowest upside potential is Bristol Myers Squibb at 7.30%. Based on this data, Merck appears to be the best bet with its high 28.1% upside potential, Moderate Buy rating, 3.13% dividend yield, and eight out of 10 Smart Score. The only downside is its higher entry point, with shares priced at just under $100 each as of this writing.
