US President Donald Trump announced a new agreement aimed at lowering prescription drug prices.
On Friday, the president announced an agreement alongside major pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences and Merck to lower drug prices to match the lowest prices in developed countries.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
President Trump said, “Starting next year, drug prices in the United States will fall rapidly and violently, soon becoming the lowest prices in the developed world.”
“This is the biggest drug-related event in the history of drug buying.”
Under the agreement, drugmakers will reduce the price of some drugs they sell to low-income Medicaid programs, officials said, promising “significant savings” on widely used drugs without providing specific numbers.
“We were giving subsidies to the whole world. We’re not going to give them anymore,” Trump said at a White House press conference surrounded by nine pharmaceutical executives.
Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said three companies, Regeneron, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie, will visit the White House after the holidays to launch the government’s TrumpRx website.
U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription drugs, often nearly three times as much as in other developed countries, and President Trump is pressuring drug companies to lower prices to what patients would pay in other countries.
Details of each agreement were not immediately available, but officials said they included agreements to lower cash-pay direct-to-consumer prices for some drugs that could be sold through the TrumpRx.gov website, to launch the drugs in the U.S. at prices comparable to (but not lower than) prices in other wealthy countries, and to expand manufacturing. In return, companies will be exempted from all customs duties for three years.
drug prices fall
Merck announced that it will sell its diabetes drugs Januvia, Janumet, and Janumet XR, which are expected to face generic competition next year, directly to U.S. consumers at about 70% off the list price. If approved, its experimental cholesterol drug ensitide would also be available through direct-to-consumer channels.
Enlisitide is one of two Merck drugs scheduled for expedited review under the FDA’s new fast-track pathway, Reuters previously reported.
Amgen announced it is expanding its direct-to-patient program to include the migraine drug Aimovig and the rheumatoid arthritis drug Amjevita, both of which will be available for $299 per month. This is about 60% and 80% cheaper than the current list price in the US.
In July, President Trump sent a letter to the heads of 17 major drug companies outlining how they would provide so-called most-favored-nation prices for Medicaid, the U.S. government’s low-income health care program, and ensure that new drugs are not released at higher prices than in other high-income countries.
So far, five companies have signed agreements with the government to curb prices. They are Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, and EMD Serono, the U.S. division of Germany’s Merck & Co.
A portion of each company’s overseas sales will also be sent to the United States to offset costs, the people said.
The companies have jointly committed to investing more than $150 billion in research, development and manufacturing in the United States, officials said, but it is unclear whether that includes previous commitments. Some have also agreed to donate pharmaceutical raw materials to the U.S. Strategic Reserve.
President Trump has long focused on the disparity in drug prices between the United States and other wealthy countries, which have government-run health care systems that negotiate price discounts.
Fears that the U.S. government would tighten price controls initially scared investors, but the terms of the deal announced so far are allaying many of those fears.
Analysts note that Medicaid, which accounts for only about 10% of U.S. drug spending, already benefits from deep price discounts, exceeding 80% in some cases.
