To reduce the patient’s out-of-pocket costs, Merck said it would not increase the average net price across its portfolio of products by more than inflation annually. The pharma company is also lowering the price of its hepatitis-C drug Zepatier by 60%. During the last Q1 2018, the company recorded significantly lower sales for Zepatier due to increasing competition and declining patient volumes. Zepatier generated sales of $131 million, much lower than $378 million during Q1 2017.
Related: Trump’s message doesn’t hurt Pfizer and other drugmakers
With these changes, Merck reinforces its commitment to responsible pricing. According to the second annual Pricing Action Transparency Report that Merck released in 2017, the net price across Merck’s U.S. product portfolio declined by 1.9%.
Trump’s harsh criticism, however, did not affect the pharma stocks. Even today, during the pre-market trading, shares of Merck were up 0.30% to $62.70. Pfizer share price is up 0.46% to $37.53.