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Exclusive-Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure from Trump

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 350 branded medications including vaccines against COVID, RSV and shingles and blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance, even as the Trump administration pressures them for cuts, according to data provided exclusively by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors.

The number of price increases for 2026 is up from the same point last year, when drugmakers unveiled ‌plans for raises on more than 250 drugs. The median of this year's price hikes is around 4% - in line with 2025.

The increases do not reflect any rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and ‌other discounts.

DRUGMAKERS ALSO CUT SOME PRICES

Drugmakers also plan to cut the list prices on around nine drugs. That includes a more than 40% cut for Boehringer Ingelheim's diabetes drug Jardiance and three related treatments.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which sell Jardiance together, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reason for the price cuts.

Jardiance is among the 10 drugs for which the U.S. government negotiated a lower price for the Medicare program for people aged 65 and older in 2026. Under those negotiations, ⁠Boehringer and Lilly slashed the Jardiance price by two-thirds.

U.S. ‌patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay in similarly wealthy nations.

The increases on 350 medicines ‍come even as Trump has struck deals with 14 drugmakers on prices of some of their medicines for the government's Medicaid program for low-income Americans and for cash payers. Pfizer, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis and GSK are among those companies and also plan to raise prices on some drugs on January 1.

"These deals are being announced as transformative when, in fact, they really just nibble around the margins in terms of what is really driving high prices for prescription drugs in the U.S.," said Dr. Benjamin Rome, ‌a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Rome said the companies seem to be maximizing prices while negotiating discounts behind the scenes with health and drug insurers and then setting yet another price for direct-to-consumer cash-pay sales.

An HHS spokesman declined to comment.

KEEPING UP WITH INFLATION

Pfizer announced the most list price hikes, on around 80 different drugs including cancer drug Ibrance, migraine pill Nurtec, and COVID treatment Paxlovid, as well as some administered in hospitals such as morphine and hydromorphone.

Most of Pfizer's increases are below 10%, except for a 15% hike of COVID vaccine Comirnaty, while some of its relatively inexpensive hospital drugs saw more than four-fold ⁠increases.

Pfizer said in a statement it had adjusted the average list price of its innovative medicines and vaccines for 2026 below the overall rate of inflation.

"The modest increase is necessary to support investments that allow us to continue to discover and deliver new medicines as well as address increased costs throughout our business," the company said.

Larger U.S. drug price increases were once far more common. Drugmakers have scaled them back due to criticism from lawmakers ‍and new government policies, such as penalizing ⁠companies that charge Medicare program prices that rise faster than inflation.

European drugmaker GSK plans to increase prices on around 20 drugs and vaccines from 2% to 8.9%. The drugmaker said it is committed to reasonable prices and the hikes are needed to support scientific innovation.

Sanofi and Novartis did not ⁠respond to requests for comment.

More price hikes and cuts can be expected in early January, which is historically the biggest month for drugmakers to raise prices.

3 Axis is a consulting firm that works ‌with pharmacist groups, health plans and some pharmaceutical industry-related groups on drug pricing and supply chain issues. It is a related entity to, ‌and shares staff with, drug pricing non-profit 46brooklyn.

(Reporting by Michael Erman ; editing by Caroline Humer)

byDaniel Coleman

in

January 01, 2026

Exclusive-Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure from Trump

By Michael Erman NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 350 branded medic...

US FDA declines to approve Corcept's drug for rare hormonal disorder

By Sneha S K and Sahil Pandey

Dec 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declined to approve Corcept Therapeutics' drug for the treatment of a rare hormonal disorder, the company said on Wednesday.

Shares ‌of the drugmaker were down 48% at $36.41.

The company said the FDA could not arrive at a ‌favorable benefit-risk assessment for the hormone-blocking oral treatment, known as relacorilant, without Corcept providing additional evidence of effectiveness.

The company was seeking approval for relacorilant as a treatment for patients with hypertension secondary to hypercortisolism.

"FDA's request for additional data may require ⁠additional trials, significantly dimming Corcept's ‌outlook in Cushings," said Truist analyst Joon Lee.

Hypercortisolism, also known as Cushing's syndrome, occurs when the body is exposed to ‍high cortisol activity.

Corcept had submitted trial data that showed that relacorilant made improvements in a wide array of hypercortisolism's signs and symptoms.

"We will meet with the FDA as soon as possible to discuss the best path forward," said Joseph Belanoff, Corcept's ‌CEO.

Main symptoms of hypercortisolism include a fatty hump between the shoulders, a rounded face, and pink or purple stretch marks on the skin. People with Cushing's also experience diabetes, high blood pressure, muscle weakness and immune suppression.

Relacorilant is a selective cortisol modulator designed to block the effects of cortisol, while avoiding certain ⁠off‑target hormonal effects.

"Given the company had opportunities to address FDA's concerns during mid and late-stage reviews, it's unclear if any further dialogue can resolve the review issues without additional trials," Lee added.

Corcept is also studying the ‍drug in a variety ⁠of serious disorders including ovarian and prostate cancer. Its other drug known as Korlym is approved to treat high blood sugar caused by ⁠hypercortisolism in adults with endogenous Cushing's syndrome.

Other approved treatments for Cushing's syndrome include Isturisa by Recordati ‌and Xeris Biopharma's Recorlev.

(Reporting by Sahil Pandey and Sneha S ‌K in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

byDaniel Coleman

in

January 01, 2026

US FDA declines to approve Corcept's drug for rare hormonal disorder

By Sneha S K and Sahil Pandey Dec 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declined to approve C...

People enter Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Tuesday, by which time work had been started to fix a misspelling on the sign. - CNN

It may now be the most famous – or infamous – sign in the country. Posted above a door on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, the Quality Learning Center was missing an "n."

For aconservative content creatorattempting to call out fraud – and the supporters who made his video on day care centers in Minneapolis' Somali community viral – it seemed too absurd not to mention.

"This is Quality 'Learing' Center," Nick Shirley said, pointing to the sign. "They spelled 'learning' wrong."

Shirley's 42-minute video posted the day after Christmas quickly spread, promptingstepped up immigration enforcement,frozen federal fundsand morebiting rhetoricagainst the Somali community from President Donald Trump.

Although Shirley's encounters with other businesses were often more dramatic, the misspelled sign and its locked door made Quality Learning Center a focus of criticism aimed at the state government and Gov. Tim Walz for a system opponents say has allowed fraud to run rampant in Minnesota.

"These are not real businesses," Shirleytold CNN's Whitney Wildthis week, pointing to the Quality Learning Center. A man identifying himself as a manager for the centertold a local TV stationthere was "no fraud going on whatsoever."

CNN is looking into Shirley's claims that this and other Minneapolis-area day care centers are committing fraud.

Federal law enforcement has beeninvestigating fraudin Minnesota forseveral years, and "98 individuals have been charged in our ongoing fraud against the government cases," Assistant US Attorney Melinda Williams told CNN Tuesday. No fraud charges have been filed against Quality Learning Center.

Records show the business has faced repeated questions of whether the service it is providing is meeting state standards, but none of the violations suggested fraud.

Here's what we know about the Quality Learning Center.

According to figures provided to CNN by the state House Republican Caucus, Quality Learning Center was set to receive $1.9 million from theChild Care Assistance Program– known as CCAP – for 2025. It has received nearly $10 million from CCAP since 2019, the document shows.

Nick Shirley speaks outside of Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Tuesday. - CNN

The caucus told CNN the funding figures were obtained from the state Department of Human Services, which did not respond to CNN's request for confirmation Wednesday.

State GOP leadership said they raised concerns about day care centers, including Quality Learning Center, months ago.

"The (House)fraud committee… featured a number of these apparently vacant sites in a hearing that took place all the way back in February, which also included the infamous Quality Learning Center featured in the viral video," state House Speaker Lisa DemuthsaidMonday.

CCAP does not take applications directly from day care centers. Instead, qualified working parents and other eligible caregivers who make less than the program's income limitapplydirectly to the state for assistance, which is paid to the day care center.

A budgetforecastproduced in November by the agency that runs CCAP says it's projected to cost the state $56 million in the 2025 fiscal year. Another $101 million in funding for the program was expected to come from the federal government.

Quality Learning Center's most recent inspection – which state officials say are done unannounced – was on June 23, the facility'slicensing recordshows.

"There have been ongoing investigations involving several of those centers. None of those investigations uncovered findings of fraud," state Department of Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown said Monday of centers covered in Shirley's video, adding that new site visits would be conducted this week. The department did not respond to multiple requests from CNN for whether those additional visits have been completed and what the results were.

"There's no fraud going on whatsoever," said Ibrahim Ali, who identified himself as a manager and son of the owners of Quality Learning Center, toCNN affiliate KAREon Monday. He said Shirley's video was taken before the business had opened for the day.

"If you look around, there's cars now because our employees are here, our children are here," he said on Monday.

Shirley's video came 11 months after a similar visit to Quality Learning Center from a reporter forlocal TV station KSTP, who also was told by a worker that the building was not yet open because it provides after-school care, with posted operating hours of 2 to 10 p.m.

State DHSrecordsshow Quality Learning Center was cited for 121 violations from May 2022 to June 2025, including 10 in the most recent inspection, listed as a licensing review. Citations included having an unqualified substitute and failing to have proper documentation for children's medicine. None of the violations suggest that the building was empty.

The state records also show correction documents were submitted and approved in response to the violations.

But even without allegations of fraud, Quality Learning Center's license has previously been in jeopardy.

In May 2022, site inspectors found 27 violations, 10 of them repeats of previous violations.

"Due to the serious and chronic nature of these violations, and the conditions in the program, which impact the health and safety of children in your care, your license to provide childcare services is placed on a conditional status for two years," said a publicly filednoticein June 2022.

Although Shirley's video implied the day care was empty, several of the violations noted in that report involved overcrowding, with too many children in some rooms and too few adults supervising them.

Staff lacked training, the 2022 notice said, and one person misidentified themselves to investigators.

The citation focused on a lack of documentation for many children. "There were several children present who did not have files," the letter says, adding that "staff were unable to provide the first and last names for most of the children present."

Although it remained on conditional status for two years, Quality Learning Center was never suspended, according to state records. It has twice been fined $200 for allowing the background check on an employee to expire.

On Tuesday afternoon, the sidewalk in front of the facility had become a hive of activity – including the return of Nick Shirley – as media and Shirley supporters watched adults escorting children in and out. A CNN crew was kept back from the property, told by an unidentified person that being in the parking lot would be considered trespassing.

Determining exactly how many children are served by Quality Learning Center – now, or in the past – is difficult from state records. The facility is licensed to provide care for a maximum of 99 children, but Ali, the center's manager, told KARE it serves anywhere from 50 to 80 children on an average day.

The state Department of Human Services has not responded to CNN's requests for details about enrollment figures.

CNN has been unable to reach the business or its registered owner, Siman Aden, using listed phone numbers, and it is not clear if they have an attorney.

Questions about the current status of the business were complicated by conflicting statements on Monday.

"Quality Learning Center closed just over a week ago," Brown said in anews conference, an assertion repeated in a statement to CNN from Walz's office.

But observers found kids arriving at Quality Learning Center that same afternoon, resulting in a raft of onlineconspiracytheories.Quality Learning Center "decided to remain open," a department spokesperson told theMinnesota Star Tribune.

Speaking to CNN outside the building Tuesday, Nick Shirley dismissed the idea that seeing children entering the building disproved his video.

"They're showing face right now," hesaid.

CNN reached out to Brown's agency for more information about why it initially thought the center had closed. The state licensing database shows Quality Learning Center's license was renewed through the end of 2026.

And as for that missing letter "n"? Ali told KARE it was a mistake by the graphic designer. By Tuesday, work on a fix was underway.

CNN's Whitney Wild and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byDaniel Coleman

in

January 01, 2026

What we know about a Minneapolis day care center that was highlighted in video about alleged fraud

It may now be the most famous – or infamous – sign in the country. Posted above a door on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, the Quality Learn...

Hector Vivas/Getty

Brian King Joseph, a violinist and finalist of season 13 ofAmerica's Got Talent, is suingWill Smith, claiming he was fired for reporting an incident of sexual harassment.

In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court on Tuesday, Joseph, whom Smith hired to perform on hisBased on a True Story: 2025global tour, alleges that he was not only subject to a "traumatic series of events" while working with Smith, but that he was terminated for reporting them.

Joseph is suing Smith and his Treyball Studios Management, Inc. over an alleged incident in March 2025 in which someone left him a disturbing message after gaining ungranted access to his Las Vegas hotel room during the tour.

According to the complaint, obtained and reviewed byEntertainment Weekly, the individual left evidence of a "sexual threat of violence," including "wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication with another individual's name, an earring, and hospital discharge paperwork" belonging to someone else.

A note was also left behind that read, "Brian, I'll be back... just us," signed with a heart and the name Stone F.

Tommaso Boddi/Getty

Entertainment Weeklyhas reached out to Joseph's attorney and representatives for Smith for comment.

Want more movie news? Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free newsletterto get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

The complaint also claims that before the alleged incident, Smith "was deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation" after he hired him to accompany Smith on the tour supporting his fifth studio album. "You and I have such a special connection that I don't have with anyone else," Joseph claims Smith told him during one meeting. The complaint also details one alleged incident in which Smith's management lost Joseph's bag, which included his hotel room key.

Joseph claims that after he discovered that someone had entered his hotel room, he reported his findings to the hotel staff, a local non-emergency police line, and Smith's management team. One member of that team "shamed" Joseph, the complaint claims, and told him he would be terminated.

The complaint subsequently characterizes Joseph's termination days later as retaliatory and dismisses the hasty hiring of another violinist in his stead as an attempt to cover up Joseph's removal from the tour.

The "circumstances of the hotel intrusion all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident," the complaint reads.

Joseph also reports experiencing "severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm, and other damages" following the alleged incident and the termination that he claims resulted from it, including "PTSD and other mental illness."

The musician is seeking compensation for personal and financial damages, with the complaint noting that Joseph undertook significant financial burden in order to prepare for the tour.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byDaniel Coleman

in

January 01, 2026

Will Smith sued for sexual harassment, wrongful termination by tour violinist

Hector Vivas/Getty Brian King Joseph, a violinist and finalist of season 13 ofAmerica's Got Talent, is suingWill Smith, claiming he ...

Cocaine, abuse, 'full meltdown' – Chevy Chase doc revelations

Far from a "Christmas Vacation," CNN'sChevy Chasedocumentary doesn't shy away from the actor's marred legacy.

"Chevy's a very smart guy," says Marina Zenovich, director of "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not" (premiering New Year's Day, 8 ET/PT). "This wasn't going to be a hagiography. So of course I'm going to dig into those things."

Featuring interviews with Chase's family – his wife of 43 years, Jayni, their three daughters, and Chase's brothers – as well as his costars, includingDan Aykroyd, Beverly D'Angelo,Goldie HawnandMartin Short− the film revisits Chase's early days of living in a cockroach-filled apartment on Lexington Avenue in New York City and bowing out as the drummer of the band that would become Steely Dan.

In the documentary, the actor also revealshow hurt he waswhen he wasn't included in a sketch forFebruary's 50th anniversary of "Saturday Night Live" (he was a member of the show's inaugural cast) and the impact ofheart failure, which has affected his memory. The film also addresses his shadow side, which struggled with a reliance on cocaine and alcohol and had a "full meltdown" on set.

Chevy Chase's abusive stepfather, 'out of control' mom

Chase's parents divorced when he was around 4. His mother, Cathalene, remarried to a man named John Cederquist. He "had a flash anger," Chase's half-brother, also named John Cederquist, says, "and he could lash out with a single blow and no talk before or after. He did not take to anything that he perceived as insolence. Chevy was insolent."

Chase, now 82, remembers being slapped at breakfast by his stepfather; he says his mother was also abusive. In the documentary, Chase says he was raised by "an out-of-control woman, who I look back on, and I say I feel sorry for her. She had her own issues. Bad ones."

Wife Jayni says in the film: "The first time we stayed together, the first time I went to wake him up, he shuddered. And he explained, 'Well, my mother would wake me up slapping me,' from the time he was a little guy."

"Our mother was a bag of cats," Chase's brother John says, "certainly on the schizoid spectrum."

Chevy Chase is looking back on a lifetime of laughs in a new documentary about his distinguished comedy career.

The comedian, 82, was part of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and after leaving the show starred in a string of hit comedies throughout the 1980s, including "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."

With the documentary "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not" set to premiere on CNN, scroll through for a look back at Chase's career, starting with Chase with his "Saturday Night Live" costars in 1975.