January is usually a big month for hiking the list prices of drugs in the US—and it looks like 2024 will be no different. Pharmaceutical companies plan to raise the US list prices of more than 500 prescription medications this month, and more are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. That's according to a report from Reuters, which is based on data from the health care research firm 3 Axis Advisors.

The high-profile drug makers with plans to increase prices include giants such as Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda.

This year's tally of 500 is in line with the past few years, with 452 list price increases as of January 1, 2023, and a high of 602 on January 1 of 2021, according to data from 46brooklyn, a drug pricing non-profit related to 3 Axis Advisors. Overall, drug makers raised the list prices of 1,425 drugs in 2023, down slightly from 1,460 in 2022.

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So far, Pfizer—which has lowered 2024 profit projections and is now implementing cost-cutting and layoffs after its meteoric pandemic rise—has plans to raise prices on the largest number of drugs this month: 124. Takeda-owned Baxalta has the second-largest number, with 53 hikes planned.

It's unclear what all of the price hikes are or will be, but the industry standard is to keep these annual increases at or below 10 percent. According to 46brooklyn's data, median price increases have been around 5 percent since 2019, Reuters notes.

The annual hikes come amid fresh federal efforts to drag down America's uniquely expensive drug prices. While drug makers are continuing with January hikes, they're also lowering some prices to avoid paying costly penalties under a provision of 2021's American Rescue Plan Act, which took effect January 1. The provision would force drug makers to pay hefty rebates to Medicaid if drug price increases outpace the rise of inflation—which they often do, handily. In some cases, such as for insulin, drug makers would have to pay Medicaid programs more in rebates than the actual net cost of the drug unless they adjusted their prices.

Additionally, under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare is now able to negotiate the prices of drugs, with the first 10 drugs selected for negotiation announced in August.