U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on December 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump spoke about lowering prescription drug prices during the event.
Alex Wong | Getty Images
Several major U.S. and Europe-based drug companies signed deals with President Donald Trump on Friday to voluntarily sell their drugs at lower prices, as the Trump administration pushes to link domestic drug prices to lower drug prices overseas.
For that, Merck, bristol myers squib, amgen, gilead, GSK, sanofiRoche Genentech, Private Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis. In return, the companies agreed to a three-year grace period during which their products would not be subject to President Trump’s planned drug-specific tariffs as long as drug companies invest more in U.S. manufacturing.
One of the most notable pledges Friday was that Bristol-Myers Squibb would make Eliquis, its blockbuster blood thinner and most prescribed product, free to Medicaid.
These companies make up the majority of the 17 drug manufacturers that President Trump sent letters to in July demanding lower prices as part of his “most-favored-nation” policy. In May, President Trump signed an executive order reinstating the policy, calling for higher prices outside the United States and “an end to global freeloading.”
“As of today, 14 of the 17 major pharmaceutical companies…have agreed to significantly lower drug prices for the American people and American patients,” President Trump said at an event Friday. “This represents the biggest patient affordability victory in the history of American health care, and all Americans will benefit.”
johnson & johnson, AbbVie The remaining largest companies have not concluded drug price agreements. However, President Trump pointed out that johnson & johnson “I’ll be here next week.”
How drug price agreements work
Full terms of the deal were not immediately made public, so it’s unclear how far-reaching the impact will be.
Nine drug companies have agreed to take steps to lower U.S. drug prices, including selling existing treatments to Medicaid patients at the lowest “most favored nation” prices and guaranteeing prices for new drugs. President Trump said drug companies have also agreed to list their most popular drugs on TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer website scheduled to launch in January.
Some companies have begun expanding new or existing direct-to-consumer offerings for certain pharmaceutical products. For example, Gilead said in a release that it will begin a program that will give patients access to Epclusa, a treatment for hepatitis C, at a discounted price.
Sanofi announced that it will offer discounts of nearly 70% on certain medicines to treat infectious diseases, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes on TrumpRx and other direct-to-consumer platforms.
Merck announced that it will offer cash-paying patients approximately 70% off three diabetes drugs, Januvia, Janumet, and Janumet XR, through its direct-to-patient program. If approved in the U.S., the program will also extend to its experimental daily cholesterol tablets, the company said.
“It reflects your company’s goal to drive affordability and access to Americans while increasing prices outside the United States,” Merck CEO Robert Davis said in a press conference. “And we support your actions 100%.”
Meanwhile, Amgen plans to expand its existing direct-to-patient program by offering 60% and 80% off the monthly price of migraine prevention drug Aimovig and autoimmune treatment Amjevita, respectively.
Earlier this year, President Trump announced agreements with: Eli LillyNovo Nordisk, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and EMD Serono have decided to sell certain medicines directly to patients at discounted prices in exchange for benefits such as exemptions from drug tariffs and expedited review of new drugs under his plan.
A 2024 study by the RAND Corporation found that prescription drug prices in the United States were, on average, nearly three times higher than overseas, and brand-name drug prices were more than four times higher, the report found.
In May, President Trump signed an executive order reinstating the most-favored-nation policy, calling for higher prices outside the United States and an “end to global freeloading.”
PhRMA, an industry group representing many major drug companies, said most-favored-nation status is not the best way to lower drug costs for Americans, and instead blamed pharmacy benefit managers for the price disparity.
The United States is the single most important market for many pharmaceutical companies, regardless of their home country. Despite being located across the Atlantic, European pharmaceutical companies are heavily influenced by the US market, with half of the continent’s 10 largest companies generating the majority of their sales in the US.
