Medicare announced Friday that it has selected 15 drugs, including the hugely popular medications Ozempic and Wegovy, used for diabetes and weight loss, as well as some blockbuster cancer medications and other drugs, for its second round of price talks.
Together with the first 10 drugs that the Biden administration targeted for its Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program last year, the medications make up a third of prescription drug spending in the government insurance program for seniors.
Prices negotiated in this second round of talks are slated to take effect in 2027. The drugs announced Friday by the Biden administration are:
- Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic; Rybelsus; Wegovy
- GSK’s Trelegy Ellipta
- Astellas and Pfizer’s Xtandi
- Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Pomalyst
- Pfizer’s Ibrance
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev
- AbbVie and Ironwood’s Linzess
- AstraZeneca’s Calquence
- Teva’s Austedo; Austedo XR
- GSK’s Breo Ellipta
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s Tradjenta
- Salix’s Xifaxan
- AbbVie’s Vraylar
- Merck’s Janumet; Janumet XR
- Amgen’s Otezla
Under the program’s timeline, drugmakers have until Feb. 28 to decide whether to either participate in the talks or face a hefty tax if they want to stay covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Close to 2.3 million seniors in Medicare are using the semaglutide medications, branded as Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy by Novo Nordisk. Medicare says that the drug added up to more than $14 billion covered by the program over the last year, the most of any medication in this round.
The next costliest was GSK’s asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medication Trelegy Ellipta, at around $5.1 billion. Around 1.25 million seniors are using that drug.
The White House says the first round of negotiations lowered the price of some of the most commonly used drugs in Medicare by about 40% to 80% compared to their list price, though researchers estimate the actual savings were significantly smaller for many drugs. Those reduced prices go into effect next year.
President Biden has touted the program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act he signed into law in 2022, as one of his term’s signature accomplishments.
“The Inflation Reduction Act put the country on a path to lower drug prices. I’m proud of my Administration’s implementation of this law to deliver lower prices for America’s seniors,” he said in a statement.
Drugmakers have sought in court to stop the process. Industry groups and Republicans have blasted the “price-setting scheme” as unfair and discouraging innovation.
The new round of talks come as the Biden administration has also proposed expanding Medicare coverage to weight loss drugs, which had previously been prohibited. It will be up to the incoming Trump administration to decide if and how to finalize the move.
Can Trump change or halt the process?
It is unclear whether President-elect Donald Trump would seek to change the drugs picked or stop the talks after he takes office. On the campaign trail, he often pledged not to make cuts to Medicare after Democrats sought to tie him to a “Project 2025” proposal to undo the program.
A spokesperson for the president-elect did not respond to a request for comment.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, a senior Biden administration official said that the process to pick the drugs for the negotiation program was hemmed in by the law Congress passed.
That law requires Medicare to essentially make a list of eligible drugs for the program, and then select the drugs that make up the 15 highest in spending from Part D.
They acknowledged that there were “very marginal decisions” that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had made in its guidance on how and when the drug talks would occur, but those would not allow for a major change in which drugs were picked.
“That process, again, is clearly defined in statute. There is no ability for a policy official to say, I prefer this drug over that drug. The entire process is based on these data,” the official said.
Which drugs were selected for the first round?
The Biden administration announced the 10 drugs selected for the first round of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program in August 2023, and reached an agreement in August 2024.
The negotiated prices will take effect in 2026. Those drugs are:
- Merck Sharp Dohme’s Januvia
- Novo Nordisk’s Fiasp and NovoLog
- AstraZeneca’s Farxiga
- Immunex’s Enbrel
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s Jardiance
- Janssen’s Stelara
- Janssen’s Xarelto
- Bristol Meyers Squibb’s Eliquis
- Novartis’ Entresto
- Pharmacyclics’ Imbruvica
CMS estimated last year that the savings they negotiated from the program would save around $1.5 billion for beneficiaries and $6 billion for the Medicare program.
