Sanofi Sets Pledge for Limiting Drug Price Hikes - Drug Discovery and Development

Sanofi is joining the growing group of pharmaceutical companies issuing transparency pledges with their drug pricing policies.

The company’s CEO Olivier Brandicourt wrote an op-ed on Tuesday explaining it was committed to limited price increases in the U.S. as part of an effort to maintain trust with all of Sanofi’s stakeholders.

“We want everyone – including patients, providers, payers, PBMs, policy makers, regulators and our shareholders – to understand why we set prices as we do, and to reaffirm to them our commitment to the principles of access, affordability and innovation,” elaborated Brandicourt.

In 2016, the average aggregate list price increase relative to the prior year was 4 percent whereas the average aggregate net price decreased by 2.1 percent.

The French pharmaceutical giant then pledged to limit price increases in 2017 for any given product in their portfolio to 5.4 percent although promising to publicly provide information demonstrating the rationale for potential upticks that go past this metric.

Furthermore, Brandicourt noted his firm is committed to releasing annual reports on aggregate price increases in the future.

Sanofi’s efforts are similar to the programs launched by Merck and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) earlier this year.

Merck’s report offered details on the average price increases for drugs and vaccines in its portfolio between 2010 and 2016. It indicated the average list price change started at 7.4 percent hitting a high of 10.5 percent in 2014.

J&J’s transparency report contained similar information showing upticks that occurred between 2012 and 2016. Net price upticks were at 4.3 percent in 2012 reaching a high of 5.2 percent three years later.

Releasing these reports is part of a strategy the industry is using to contend with the increased criticism of drug pricing from politicians and consumers.

This backlash has made companies like Sanofi establish somewhat reasonable prices. Its recently approved blockbuster eczema drug had its annual wholesale acquisition cost set at $37,000, reported BioPharma Dive.