04:00 PM EDT, 08/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates to include Merck's ( MRK ) response.)

The Biden administration on Thursday set out prices for 10 prescription drugs, including those from Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) and Merck ( MRK ) , that were selected for negotiations between the Medicare program and drugmakers under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

The new prices will be effective for people with Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage starting in 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. Assuming the revised prices were in effect last year, Medicare would have saved an estimated $6 billion, or 22%, according to CMS.

"Americans who pay out of pocket will be saving another $1.5 billion moving forward," US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The negotiated price for a 30-day supply of Bristol-Myers Squibb's ( BMY ) blood thinner Eliquis is set at $231 versus its 2023 list price of $521, while the price of its Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) rival Xarelto would be $197, down from $517. Merck's ( MRK ) Januvia diabetes drug would have a price tag of $113 versus $527, while the price of AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) Farxiga is set to go down to $178.50 from $556. Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and Boehringer Ingelheim's Jardiance will carry a price tag of $197, compared with its 2023 list price of $573.

The list price of Novartis' ( NVS ) heart-failure treatment Entresto will be $295 versus $628, while Amgen's ( AMGN ) Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis will have a tag of $2,355 versus $7,106. AbbVie's ( ABBV ) blood-cancer drug Imbruvica's price will fall to $9,319 from $14,934. The price of Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) unit Janssen's Stelara for arthritis and Crohn's disease will be $4,695, down from $13,836, while insulins from Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) will carry a tag of $119, compared with $495.

"We will continue the fight to make sure all Americans can pay less for prescription drugs and to give more breathing room for American families," US President Joe Biden said in a statement.

The CMS said that by Feb. 1, 2025, it will select up to 15 more drugs covered under Part D for negotiation for 2027. It will select up to 15 more drugs covered by Part B or D for 2028, and up to 20 more Part B or D drugs for each year after that, as required by the IRA.

Bristol-Myers said in a statement published on its website that it expects 2026 Eliquis revenue of $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion in the US and between $10.5 billion and $12.5 billion worldwide. The company projects 2027 Eliquis sales between $8 billion and $10 billion in the US and $8.5 billion to $11 billion worldwide.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) on Wednesday filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit after a federal judge rejected its arguments against the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. "We remain opposed to government price setting through the IRA," the company told MT Newswires in a statement e-mailed Thursday. Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) said that while its IRA lawsuit progresses, the company will make sure the new price is made available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2026.

AstraZeneca ( AZN ), Novartis ( NVS ), Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ), Boehringer, Lilly and Merck ( MRK ) criticized the move in separate e-mails sent to MT Newswires. "The reality of the IRA's government price setting for US patients will be higher costs," a Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) spokesperson said.

"We acceded to a 'maximum fair price' for Entresto for 2026 only to avoid other untenable options including catastrophic fines or the removal of all our products from both Medicare and Medicaid," Novartis ( NVS ) told MT Newswires.

Merck ( MRK ) disagreed that Januvia's new price "is a fair market price," according to a statement. "We remain concerned that IRA's price-setting policy will have a significant chilling effect on future innovation and research investment, which will ultimately impact patient access to new medicines and cures."

Amgen ( AMGN ) and AbbVie ( ABBV ) didn't respond to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

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