The White House announced that President Trump is expected to announce a new agreement aimed at lowering prescription drug prices on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. According to sources from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, and Merck, it is expected that several large pharmaceutical companies, including a number of others, will announce price reductions for certain drugs.
It is reported by Bloomberg that Swiss pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Roche, among others, are expected to participate as well.
In July, President Trump wrote to the leadership of 17 major pharmaceutical companies outlining how they should provide best prices to the low-income population under the US government’s Medicaid program, ensuring that new drug prices will not exceed those in other high-income countries.
Five companies have already reached agreements with the government to control drug prices. They include Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, and the US branch of Merck KGaA, EMD Serono.
The other 12 companies are Sanofi, Regeneron, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Amgen, Gilead, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Novartis, and Genentech (a subsidiary of Roche in the US).
Novartis stated that it is in negotiations with the Trump administration and is committed to finding solutions to lower drug costs for the American public. Roche expressed support for Trump’s goal of reducing drug costs and encouraged other countries to incentivize biopharmaceutical innovation.
Trump has long been concerned about the disparity in drug prices between the US and other wealthy countries, which have government-operated healthcare systems that can negotiate price discounts.
He stated that reducing drug prices is the answer to achieving cheaper and higher-quality healthcare.
On November 29, he posted on the media platform Truth Social, saying, “Because I have secured the Most Favored Nation status for the US, drug prices are decreasing at an unprecedented rate, with reductions of up to 500%, 600%, 700%, or even more.”
Previously, the Trump administration negotiated with domestic and foreign drug manufacturers through the Most Favored Nation status policy and successfully lowered the prices of 15 high-volume drugs in the Medicare program, including Ozempic.
Analysts point out that Medicaid accounts for about 10% of drug spending in the US, and price reductions will save tens of billions of dollars for the Medicare program. For some patients, price decreases can reduce their copayments or other out-of-pocket expenses dictated by specific insurance plans.
It is expected that these pharmaceutical companies hope to receive preferential treatment for their imported drugs by offering significant discounts.
(Translated and rewritten with reference to reports from Reuters)