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Merck Is Lowering Drug Prices. There’s a Catch.

Merck said it was lowering the prices in an effort to reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients, as the industry confronts sustained criticism over the rising cost of prescriptions.Credit...Brendan McDermid/Reuters

The drugmaker Merck said Thursday that it would lower prices on several drugs by 10 percent or more, but its rollback affects minor products and would not lower the cost of its top-selling, expensive cancer and diabetes products.

The move follows recent announcements by Pfizer and Novartis that they would freeze price increases for the rest of the year, as the industry confronts sustained criticism from President Trump, lawmakers and the public over the rising cost of prescriptions.

Merck’s action shows just how cautiously the industry is shifting strategies: It did not cut the prices of any blockbusters like the cancer treatment Keytruda or the diabetes drug Januvia. Instead, it said it would reduce by 60 percent the list price of Zepatier, a hepatitis C drug whose recent sales have dipped so low that, after paying after-the-fact rebates to insurers, the company recorded no sales in the United States for the product in the first quarter of this year.

The six other products that Merck said it was discounting were drugs that had lost their patent protection and are available from other manufacturers as low-cost generics.

In a statement, Merck said it was lowering the prices in an effort to reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients. It also said it would not increase the average net price — the amount after discounts are applied — of its products above the rate of inflation for the rest of the year.

Major drug companies have become the target of escalating tension over prices, and the Department of Health and Human Services, now run by Alex M. Azar II, a former pharmaceutical executive, has been weighing options to make some changes.

The president has repeatedly slammed pharmaceutical companies. Just last week, Mr. Trump singled out Pfizer in a tweet for raising prices on dozens of drugs, increases the company has since deferred. After freezing their prices, Novartis and Pfizer have since been rewarded with congratulatory presidential tweets.

His administration outlined a detailed proposal to address the issue, a plan that received more than 2,000 comments, many from the drug and benefit managers industries.

Mr. Trump had announced in May that major drug companies would, within two weeks, enact “voluntary massive drops” in prices, but that did not happen.

Merck’s announcement on Thursday appeared to be the first time in recent memory that a company pledged to lower the list price of its drugs.

Adam J. Fein, chief executive of the Drug Channels Institute, said even though Merck’s move was small, it reduces how much middlemen like wholesalers and pharmacy benefit managers are paid. “Every player’s economics change when list price drops,” he said. If others follow suit, he said, “we are moving into uncharted waters.”

Much of the outrage over high drug prices has been driven by the gap between the list price of a drug, which is set by the manufacturer, and the net price, which is the amount — after rebates — that insurers and large employers pay.

Consumers are often exposed to the higher list price because they either do not have insurance, or because their insurance requires them to pay the list price before their deductible is met. In the statement, Merck said that it chose the drugs “based on a range of factors including the gap between list price and actual discounted (net) prices paid in the market, the contractual obligations under existing arrangements with payers, and the opportunity to broaden access to treatment.”

Zepatier has struggled in recent years in the face of competition from other hepatitis C treatments, and fewer patients who are seeking treatment for the disease. Zepatier brought in $131 million in global sales in the first quarter of 2018, a 65 percent decline over the first quarter of 2017. After paying rebates to insurers, the company recorded $0 in United States sales of Zepatier for the first quarter.

By contrast, the cancer treatment Keytruda had sales in the United States of $838 million in the first quarter of 2018. The diabetes drug Januvia brought in $465 million in the same period.

Other drugs that Merck said it would discount its price on include the brand-name versions of products that long ago lost their patent protection and are readily available from competitors at steeply discounted prices. They include Prinivil, the brand name for the blood pressure drug lisinopril, which lost its patent protection in 2002.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: Merck Says It Will Lower Prices on Some Drugs, but Not for Its Biggest Sellers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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