BUSINESS MEMO: PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES

Wholesale prices for prescription drugs rose just 1.8 percent in 1996, as higher increases in brand-name drugs were offset by declines in generics, a drug industry researcher reports.

The increase was below the overall inflation rate of 2.1 percent reported by the government for wholesale prices, IMS America Inc. said Wednesday.

Brand-name drugs continued to outstrip inflation. Prices of these drugs, as sold to retail pharmacies, rose 3.9 percent. The price of generic drugs sold to the pharmacies fell 13.8 percent, continuing past trends. Generics now make up 40 percent of all retail prescriptions.