The pharmaceutical industry is facing increased pressure from President Donald Trump, lawmakers and the public to lower drug prices.
In July, President Trump slammed pharma giant Pfizer on Twitter, saying the company should be "ashamed" of the decision to increase the list price of more than 100 drugs and treatments.
Since the Tweet, several drugmakers announced plans to postpone or eliminate drug price hikes for the remainder of the year.
Here is a breakdown of six drugmakers who postponed price hikes or lowered drug prices since the July 9 tweet:
1. Pfizer. The pharmaceutical company, which raised the price of 100 drugs July 1, agreed to postpone some drug price increases July 10, one day after President Trump's tweet. Pfizer said it would return the costs of those drugs to their pre-July 1 levels until "the President's blueprint goes into effect or the end of the year — whichever is sooner," the company wrote in a press release. The decision to defer price increases came after President Trump spoke with Pfizer's Chairman and CEO Ian Read.
2. Novartis. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant announced it would halt drug price increases in the U.S. for the remainder of the year. Novartis voluntarily pulled back its planned price increases, saying it wants the costs of its medications to be "reasonable." The decision to stall price hikes came July 18, just eight days after Pfizer's decision.
3. AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca joined the ranks of numerous drug companies changing their pricing strategies July 26 amid scrutiny from President Trump . The drugmaker announced it would freeze price hikes for the remainder of the year.
4. Merck. Merck became the first drugmaker to voluntarily lower the costs of several drugs after the president criticized the industry. The New Jersey-based drugmaker will slash its hepatitis C treatment Zepatier by 60 percent and will lower the price of six other drugs by 10 percent. Further, the pharmaceutical company promised to not increase the average net price of its other medication by more than the inflation rate.
5. Roche. While the pharma giant boosted U.S. prices for nine key drugs July 1, Roche announced it would hold off on additional price increases as discussions with the Trump administration continue for the rest of the year. The pharmaceutical giant said it is committed to finding a longer-term solution to containing healthcare costs with the administration.
6. Bayer. On July 20, the German pharma giant announced it would freeze price hikes in the U.S. for 2018 following criticism by President Trump.
Since most pharmaceutical companies only pledged to halt price hikes until the end of the year, analysts argue the real opportunity to see change will be in January, when drugmakers' pledges are no longer in effect and they have the leeway to resume increases.