US Gov’t Releases Negotiated Drug Prices for 15 Rx Drugs
The US government has released the negotiated drug prices for a second slate of drugs—15 drugs in all–under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, which was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, a major climate, tax, and healthcare bill that was signed into law in 2022 and which included drug-pricing measures in the US. A key provision under that law is that for the first time ever, the US government, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was authorized and required to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs under Medicare, the US federal health insurance program for people 65 or older.
The Maximum Fair Prices (MFPs) for these 15 drugs will become effective January 1, 2027, bringing the total number of negotiated drugs to 25 when combined with the 10 previously negotiated drugs with MFPs taking effect January 1, 2026. The negotiated drug prices for the first 10 drugs under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program were announced in 2024 and are scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2026. These 10 drugs are: AbbVie’s/Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica (ibrutinib); Amgen’s Enbrel (etanercept); AstraZeneca’s Farxiga (dapagliflozin); Boehringer Ingelheim’s/Eli Lilly and Company’s Jardiance (empagliflozin); Bristol-Myers Squibb’s/Pfizer’s Eliquis (apixaban); Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara (ustekinumab) and Xarelto (rivaroxaban); Merck & Co.’s Januvia (sitagliptin); Novartis’ Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan); and various formats for insulin apart, a short-acting insulin from Nov Nordisk, Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen, and NovoLog PenFill.
The next 15 drugs subject to negotiated drug prices were announced last week (November 25, 2025), and these prices go into effect January 1, 2027. These drugs are:
- Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic/Rybelsus/Wegovy (semaglutide), respectively for treating Type 2 diabetes (Ozempic and Rybelus) and obesity (Wegovy);
- GSK’s Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol trifenatate), for treating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,;
- Pfizer’s and Astellas Pharma’s Xtandi (enzalutamide), for treating prostate cancer;
- Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Pomalyst (pomalidomide), for treating kaposi sarcoma, a type of cancer forming lesions in the skin, and multiple myeloma;
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev (nintedanib esylate), for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease;
- Pfizer’s Ibrance (palbociclib), for treating breast cancer;
- AbbVie’s Linzess (linaclotide), for treating chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation;
- AstraZeneca’s Calquence (acalabrutinib), for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma;
- Teva Pharmaceuticals’ Austedo/Austedo XR (deutetrabenazine), for treating chorea (a neurological movement disorder) in Huntington’s disease and tardive dyskinesia, an involuntary movement disorder caused by long-term use of certain medications.
- GSK’s Breo Ellipta (fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol trifenatate), for treating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
- Salix Pharmaceuticals’ Xifaxan (rifaximin), for treating hepatic encephalopathy and irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea;
- AbbVie’s Vraylar (cariprazine hydrochloride), for treating bipolar I disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia;;
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s Tradjenta (linagliptin), for treating Type 2 diabetes;
- Merck & Co.’s Janumet/Janumet XR (metformin hydrochloride/sitagliptin phosphate), for treating Type 2 diabetes; and
- Amgen’s Otezla/Otezla XR (apremilast), for treating oral ulcers in Behcet’s disease, plaque psoriasis, and psroriatic arthritis;
The drug-pricing measures under the Inflation Reduction Act apply to select drugs under Medicare Part D, which covers most outpatient prescription drugs from pharmacies and other pharmacy providers, and Medicare Part B, which applies to prescription drugs administered in a physician’s office or clinical outpatient setting. The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program limits the number of drugs to be selected for price negotiations under a phased, multi-year rollout.
Under the drug-price negotiation program, the HHS Secretary is authorized and required to select a specified number of drugs from a list of 50 “negotiation-eligible drugs” with the highest Medicare Part D spending and from a list of 50 “negotiation-eligible drugs” with the highest Medicare Part B spending over a given 12-month period. It limits the number of eligible drugs for negotiations to 10 Medicare Part D drugs in 2026, 15 Medicare Part D drugs in 2027, 15 Medicare Part B and D drugs in 2028, and 20 Medicare Part B and D drugs in 2029 and thereafter. In all, over the next several years, the US government will negotiate prices for up to 60 drugs covered under Medicare Part D and Part B, and up to an additional 20 drugs every year after that, provided that there are changes to the measures.
In addition, the program also limits the type of drugs eligible to be negotiated under the drug-pricing plan. For example, the plan applies only to “high-cost” drugs defined by levels of Medicare spending, “older” drugs, defined on the basis of the number of years from when a drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and drugs without generic-drug and biosimilar competition. Also certain drugs, such as orphan drugs and plasma-derived products, are excluded from the negotiation process.
