Nine pharmaceutical companies have agreed to cut prices on their flagship drugs for Medicaid recipients and people who buy drugs with cash rather than through insurance as part of a new agreement with the Trump administration.
The agreement includes prescription drugs for asthma, certain cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B and C, HIV, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes, the White House said.
Millions of people are expected to experience this double digit increase in their insurance premiums next year, and as more people opt out Affordable Care Act coverage or switching to cheaper plans for 2026.
President Donald Trump announced the deal at a Friday news conference attended by executives from each of the nine companies: Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi.
“This by far represents the greatest victory for patient access in the history of American health care,” Trump said.
Companies will receive a three-year duty waiver in exchange for their commitments. Reuters reports this.citing senior administration officials.
“If we didn't have tariffs, we never would have been able to do this,” Trump said.
IN press releaseThe White House said the list price for Epclusa, Gilead's hepatitis C drug, will drop from $24,920 to $2,425. Reyataz, an HIV drug from Bristol Myers Squibb, will rise in price from $1,449 to $217, it said. The price of Plavix, a prescription blood thinner from Sanofi, will drop to $16 from $756, according to the White House.
Consumers can buy drugs at these prices through TrumpRX, a direct-to-consumer website run by the federal government that is expected to launch early next year. The agreement, however, does not affect the prices people will pay if they use private insurance plans.
The deal is part of Trump's broader effort to bring prescription drug costs in the U.S. in line with the lowest prices in other rich countries – so-called “most favored nation” prices. Trump signed a decree in May directed federal officials to implement a pricing model.
A RAND Corporation 2024 Reporta nonprofit think tank, found that average prescription drug prices in the United States are nearly three times higher than in similar countries.
In July Trump sent letters to 17 major pharmaceutical companies warning of consequences if they refuse to reduce drug costs. According to the White House, the letters said the federal government “will use every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from ongoing practices of abusive drug pricing.”
Until Friday, five other drugmakers – AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer – deals already concluded with the Trump administration to lower drug prices.
Trump said Friday that he expects the remaining three drugmakers on the original list — AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron — to also reach deals. However, there have been no such statements yet.
