President Donald Trump used a prime-time address from the White House on Wednesday night to highlight what he called unprecedented declines in prescription drug prices and outlined how the TrumpRx program and most-favored-nation drug treatment would begin to take effect in January.
Trump said his fellow Americans, “I’m doing something no politician of any party has ever done—opting against the special interest in dramatically lowering prescription drug prices.”
He continued:
I have negotiated directly with pharmaceutical companies in foreign countries who have taken advantage of our country for many decades to lower drug and pharmaceutical prices by as much as 400, 500 and even 600%, in other words, your drug prices will plummet and I will use the threat of tariffs to force foreign countries that would never do so to pay the cost of this giant dollar reduction.
They stopped robbing us, and it started four days ago. There has never been anything like this in the history of our country. Drugs have only grown, but now they will decline in quantities never thought possible. It is called the Most Favored Nation Nation, and no president has ever had the courage or ability to do so. The first of these unprecedented price reductions will be available starting in January on the new Trumprx.gov website, and these large price reductions will significantly reduce the cost of healthcare.
Trump's comments about TrumpRx build on a series of agreements announced since late September that use most-favored-nation treatment and direct-to-consumer sales to link U.S. drug prices to what they pay for the same drugs in foreign countries.
In November, Breitbart News reported that Trump had reached agreements with five major pharmaceutical companies—Pfizer, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk—for a wide range of commonly used drugs.
Under the first agreement reached with Pfizer on Sept. 30, state Medicaid programs gained access to most-favored-nation pricing and made some drugs available to consumers at deep discounts when purchased directly. The dermatitis ointment Eucrisa was to be sold at an 80 percent discount, the rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz was to be sold at a 40 percent discount, and the migraine drug Zavpret was to be sold at a 50 percent discount when purchased directly.
A follow-up deal with AstraZeneca on Oct. 10 expanded the model to inhalers used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the White House, BEVESPI AEROSPHERE will be available at a discount of 654 percent of the deal price, BREZTRI AEROSPHERE at a 98 percent discount, and AIRSUPRA at a 96 percent discount for patients purchasing the drug directly.
On October 16, Trump announced an agreement with EMD Serono that covers its entire portfolio of in vitro fertilization therapies. When used together in a typical IVF protocol, eligible patients will be able to receive an 84 percent discount off list prices, potentially saving thousands of dollars per treatment cycle, the company said.
The most recent agreements, announced last week, involved Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Novo Nordisk has agreed to reduce monthly prices by {“}
\\\]and Wegovy from about $1,000 and $1,350, respectively, to $350, while Eli Lilly agreed to reduce the cost of Zepbound and Orforglipron from $1,086 per month to $346. Medicare prices for these four drugs will be $245 per month.
The companies also agreed to specific price cuts on additional drugs: Novo Nordisk supplies widely used insulin products, including NovoLog and Tresiba, for $35 a month, and Eli Lilly offers discounts on other treatments such as Emgality for migraines and Trulicity for diabetes, each of which has cut its list prices by hundreds of dollars.
