The landscape of U.S. healthcare economics is shifting. On Tuesday, the U.S. Medicare health plan announced newly negotiated prices for 15 of its costliest drugs. The result is a projected 36% savings on those medications compared to recent annual spending, totaling approximately $8.5 billion in net prescription costs.
These new prices, established under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, will go into effect in 2027. This marks the second round of negotiations in a historic policy change that allows Medicare to negotiate directly with drugmakers—a practice previously barred by law.
Among the high-profile drugs in this negotiation round is Novo Nordisk’s popular GLP-1 receptor agonist, semaglutide (sold as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss). The negotiated monthly price for Ozempic will be $274, a significant reduction from the recent net price of $428 and the list price of $959.
Other major treatments seeing substantial price adjustments include:
For pharmaceutical professionals, this signals a need to adapt commercial strategies. While industry bodies like PhRMA have argued that government price setting is the "wrong policy," analysts suggest these moves will have broader consequences.
Experts note that these negotiated rates could become a benchmark for private payers. As Sean Sullivan, professor of pharmacy at the University of Washington, noted, "All of the other payers can see them. What is going to stop them from asking manufacturers for that same price?"
Furthermore, discussions regarding international pricing comparisons (often referred to as "most-favored-nation" pricing) continue to influence the regulatory environment. Currently, prices for many top drugs in the U.S. remain significantly higher than in other high-income nations, a disparity that policymakers are increasingly keen to address.
Understanding these shifts in health economics and regulatory affairs is vital for future planning. At the Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Virtual Event on March 11–12, 2026, we will dedicate specific tracks to Market Access, Regulatory Strategy, and Global Health Economics.
Join us to discuss how these policy changes impact R&D investment, commercialization strategies, and patient access with top industry experts.
We look forward to seeing you there!
