More Trump deals to lower drug prices : Shots

President Trump said the administration has reached agreements with nine more drugmakers to bring U.S. drug prices more in line with those in other wealthy countries.

A total of fourteen companies have already reached what the administration calls most-favored-nation pricing agreements. The following companies participated in Friday's announcement: Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi.

They agreed to charge the US government no more for new drugs than the prices paid by other rich countries. The agreements will allow state Medicaid programs to access lower prices from the nine companies. In the statementThe White House said the change would result in “billions of dollars in savings.”

The drugmakers also agreed to invest at least $150 billion in U.S. manufacturing operations. The President is seeking to increase domestic production of pharmaceuticals.

In addition, the companies agreed to make some of their most popular drugs available at lower prices to consumers who pay out of pocket through a government website called TrumpRx.com. The TrumpRx website is expected to launch in early 2026 and will direct consumers to pharmaceutical companies' direct-to-consumer websites to fulfill orders.

For example, Merck will reduce the price of Januvia, a type 2 diabetes drug, from $330 to $100 for patients who purchase it directly through TrumpRx, the White House said. Amgen will lower the price of Repatha, a cholesterol-lowering drug, from $573 to $239 when purchased through TrumpRx.

In exchange for these concessions, companies will be exempt from potential administrative tariffs for three years.

The extent of savings for consumers under the agreements is unclear. Medicaid and its beneficiaries already pay some of the lowest drug prices. And people with health insurance may spend less on copays for their medications than paying out-of-pocket through drug manufacturers.

In addition, Trump said during the press conference that he would like health insurers to lower their prices as well.

“I'm going to call a meeting of the insurance companies,” he said. “I'll see if they [will] lower the price, to put it bluntly.”