Posted by Michael Wonder on 27 Nov 2016
Drug makers find competition doesn’t keep a lid on prices
27 November 2016 - Makers of Viagra, Cialis show how rivals tend to raise prices in tandem, a reason for the surge in U.S. prescription-drug spending.
Pfizer raised the list price of Viagra by 13% in June. Less than a week later, Eli Lilly pushed up the price of its competing pill Cialis by the same percentage.
The two companies, though rivals, followed a common industry practice: raising prices almost in lockstep. For years, Pfizer and Lilly have taken increases on their erectile-dysfunction drugs within weeks of each other—sometimes even on the same day—keeping the list price of each pill within a few dollars.
