Drugmakers Raise Prices for Over 700 Medications, Including Popular Weight-Loss Drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro

Despite the average 4.5% price hike, some medications saw significant price drops at the start of the year.

Pharmaceutical companies have increased prices for over 700 medications, including popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro, with the average price increase at the start of the year being about 4.5%.
The price of Ozempic, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, rose 3.5% to $984.29 for a month's supply, while Eli Lilly's Mounjaro rose 4.5% to about $1,000 for a month's worth of the medication.
Prescriptions for Ozempic and similar drugs quadrupled between 2020 and the end of 2022, with many providers prescribing it for 'off-label' usage, meaning for conditions other than its approved use.
Not all medications saw price hikes, with about two dozen medications dropping sharply in price at the start of the year, including some popular insulin products.
Drugmakers argue that prices for current medicines reflect the rising costs of research, development and testing of new treatments, and that newly-approved drugs must be priced accordingly to recoup these development costs.