Brazilian Consumers Face Up to 25‑Fold Drug Price Gaps

A Procon‑SP survey of 70 medicines in São Paulo found price differences of up to 2,433.59% – roughly 25 times – for the same drug across pharmacies. The generic Tadalafila 5 mg (30‑pill box) was sold for R$ 3.87 in a southern‑zone pharmacy and R$ 98.05 in a northern‑zone outlet. Reference medicines also showed large gaps, with the greatest at 286.11% for Synthroid. Online pharmacies were on average 20.58% cheaper for generics and 8.13% cheaper for reference drugs, though both categories recorded price increases above inflation.

Separately, Brazilian firm EMS announced a 23% price reduction for its semaglutide weight‑loss pen Ozivy, lowering the cost to R$ 333 per 1 mg pen and offering three pens for R$ 999 under the Vida + Leve program. The move follows Ozivy’s recent approval by Anvisa and its inclusion on the national reference‑medicines list, aiming to broaden patient access despite ongoing concerns that medication costs remain a major barrier to treatment.