Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, +0.62% said Thursday it is adopting a 'responsible' pricing policy and will cut the prices of certain products, while committing to increasing the average price of its drugs by no more than the annual inflation rate. "We believe that further changes are still necessary to help reduce patient out-of-pocket costs," the company said in a statement. The high price of drugs has been a controversial topic in the last few years and one that President Donald Trump has pledged to address. As yet, the president has not presented a cohesive plan to tackle the problem. Merck said it will reduce the price of its Zepatier treatment for Hepatitis C by 60%, and will lower other prices by 10%. Zepatier is expected to generate sales of $122.5 million in the second quarter, according to FactSet, equal to about 1% of Merck's overall sales. Shares were slightly lower in afternoon trade, but have gained 11.2% in 2018, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.29% has gained 5.0%.