Johnson & Johnson to Report Average Increases in List Prices for U.S. Drugs

By Jonathan D. Rockoff

Johnson & Johnson is planning to issue a report next month outlining how much it has raised the U.S. prices of its prescription drugs, the latest pharmaceutical company effort to address intense public concern about the cost of medicines.

The report will give the average increase in the list prices for all company drugs in the U.S., as well as their average price after the discounts given by the company, J&J officials said. The report will also show that J&J spends more on research than marketing, and about two-thirds of its sales growth comes from selling more drugs, rather than raising their prices.

"We are a responsible actor in health care. We try to balance the interests of all the stakeholders and look to the long term," said Joaquin Duato, a J&J executive who helps run its pharmaceuticals business.

J&J hopes the report will show that it raises prices by reasonable amounts, thereby helping address public concerns about aggressive price increases. Criticism of the industry from lawmakers, payers and patient groups has grown and led to congressional hearings. Mylan Inc. was the one of latest drugmakers to face public scrutiny, over its EpiPen allergic reaction treatment.

But J&J's report may not satisfy critics because it will provide only an average across all the company's drugs. The company said an average is all it can provide without undermining its negotiations with payers.

Allergan Inc. and Novo Nordisk have also taken steps to address pricing concerns, with pledges last year to limit increases to less than 10% a year. Allergan also expanded its patient assistance programs as part of the "social contract" it announced in September.

"What I hope to prove is you can achieve a balance between earning a return to invest in innovation and making your medicines affordable and running a first-class biopharmaceutical company," Allergan Chief Executive Brent Saunders said in an interview Monday.

Mr. Duato said J&J didn't see the need to set a similar price limit because it already keeps increases to single-digit percentages for list prices and the low single-digits for increases after discounts.

J&J's "U.S. Pharmaceuticals Transparency Report" will also address other subjects of public scrutiny, such as saying how much the company pays to physicians and how many patients are getting an experimental medicine from the company even if they aren't in a clinical trial for the drug, Mr. Duato said.

Write to Jonathan D. Rockoff at Jonathan.Rockoff@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 10, 2017 00:14 ET (05:14 GMT)

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