Trump slams Pfizer after July 1 drug price hikes

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday took aim at Pfizer Inc and other U.S. drugmakers after they raised prices on some of their medicines on July 1, saying his administration would act in response.

"Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason." Trump wrote in a post on Twitter on Monday. "We will respond!"

Trump had said in May that some drug companies would soon announce "voluntary, massive" cuts in prices, but none have materialized yet. During his presidential campaign, he promised lower U.S. drug costs.

Pfizer raised list prices on around 40 medicines earlier this month. Those include Viagra, cholesterol drug Lipitor and arthritis treatment Xeljanz, according to Wells Fargo. List prices do not include rebates and discounts drugmakers may offer.

"The list price remains unchanged for the majority of our medicines. Our portfolio includes more than 400 medicines and vaccines. We are modifying prices for approximately 10 percent of these, including some instances where we're decreasing the price," Pfizer spokeswoman Sally Beatty told Reuters.

(Reporting by Michael Erman and Susan Heavey; Editing by David Gregorio)

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