The five largest U.S. pharmaceutical companies by market cap — Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AbbVie, and Pfizer — reported combined earnings of $81.9 billion in 2022, an $8 billion increase from 2021, according to a new analysis by Accountable. The US. The report comes as major players in the pharmaceutical industry try to buck provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that would allow Medicare to directly negotiate the prices of certain drugs with manufacturers in an effort to cut costs for older Americans. An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the IRA drug pricing provisions will reduce the federal deficit by $237 billion from 2022 to 2031. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is set to announce the first 10 drugs by Sept. 1, and their newly negotiated prices will take effect in 2026.
