RELEASE: All 12 Drug Manufacturers Agree To Participate In Second Round Of Medicare Negotiations

Patients For Affordable Drugs Welcomes Key Milestone While Holding Drug Companies Accountable For Ongoing Legal Attacks

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Friday that all 12 manufacturers of the 15 drugs selected for the second round of the Medicare negotiation program voluntarily agreed to participate. While this is another critical step forward in the fight to lower drug prices for millions of patients on Medicare – the announcement is dampened by six of the very same companies suing to block the program altogether, including AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and Teva.

“For two decades, Big Pharma benefitted from a sweetheart deal that allowed it to dictate prices to American seniors and people on Medicare, raking in enormous profits at the expense of patients,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of P4AD. “But thanks to the 2022 prescription drug law, Medicare is now negotiating lower prices on some of the most expensive and most commonly prescribed drugs covered under the program. While we welcome today’s announcement: the fact remains that many of these companies are fighting in court to dismantle the very program they’re engaging in. Our focus remains on ensuring the negotiation process is successful – urgently delivering deep price cuts for patients and savings for taxpayers.”

The 15 drugs selected for this second round of negotiations were used by 5.3 million people on Medicare between November 2023 and October 2024, accounting for $41 billion in Medicare spending. Despite the financial burden the cost of these drugs already places on patients and taxpayers, 12 of the 15 drugs saw price hikes in January this year – 11 of which exceeded the rate of inflation. Negotiations for the first 10 selected drugs have already led to an average list price reduction of more than 62%, and if successfully implemented this next round will deliver relief to even more patients when lower prices take effect in 2027.

Lower negotiated prices on these drugs will bring meaningful relief to patients all across the country including:

Carole from Flint, Michigan, depends on Ofev, a medication that costs $14,000 for 60 pills, to extend her life. The drug won’t cure her lung disease, but it will give Carole a few more years to live.
Mary of Lafayette, California, saw her copay for Pomalyst – the drug she depends on to stay in remission from multiple myeloma – soar from $585 for 14 pills in 2019 to $943 in 2020 after transitioning to Medicare.
Teresa from North Carolina whose heart condition means Breo Ellipta is the only inhaler that she can use to manage her asthma but with a price of over $400, she can’t afford it.

Medicare Negotiation By The Numbers

The historic 2022 prescription drug law requires negotiation for up to 60 drugs by 2029.
$100 billion: Taxpayer savings specifically from Medicare negotiation through 2031.
$6 billion: Estimated Medicare savings if lower negotiated prices on the first 10 selected drugs had been in effect in 2023.
$1.5 billion annually: Estimated out-of-pocket savings for people on Medicare Part D on the first 10 selected drugs starting in 2026.
656,967 fewer deaths: Projected over seven years due to improved treatment adherence, with nearly 94,000 lives saved annually from reduced out-of-pocket costs from Medicare negotiation.
$237 billion: Projected total taxpayer savings from the 2022 prescription drug law through 2031.

Next month, CMS will host one live-streamed town hall meeting for all selected drugs and 15 patient-focused roundtable events, one for each selected drug. These events will be open to patients, patient advocacy organizations, and caregivers selected to speak at the events. The roundtable events will be held April 16 – April 29, 2025, and the town hall meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.

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Patients For Affordable Drugs is the only national patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on policies that lower prescription drug prices. We empower and mobilize patients by amplifying their experiences with high drug prices to hold those in power to account and fight to shape and achieve system-changing policies that make prescription drugs affordable for all people in the United States. P4AD does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development and distribution of drugs. To learn more, visit PatientsForAffordableDrugs.org.