US President Donald Trump said the United States will not subsidise pharma prices for the world anymore as he announced a deal with nine major pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices of the medicines being sold in his country.
The nine companies – Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi – will slash the prices of their medicines for the government’s Medicaid program and for cash payers.
In a statement, the White House said the President signed nine deals with “companies to lower prescription drug prices for Americans in line with the lowest prices paid by other developed nations (known as the most-favoured-nation, or MFN, price)”.
At a press conference, Trump said: “We were subsidising the entire world. We’re not doing it anymore.”
The White House statement said the agreements ensure foreign nations can no longer use price controls to free ride on American innovation by guaranteeing MFN prices on all new innovative medicines that the nine companies bring to market.
US patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay elsewhere.
Giving examples of some of the price reduction through the TrumpRx.Gov website, the White House mentioned…
- Amgen’s cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha from US$573 to US$239
- Bristol Myers Squibb’s HIV medication, Reyataz, from US$1,449 to US$217
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s type two diabetes medication, Jentadeuto, from US$525 to US$55
- Gilead Sciences’s Hepatitis C medication, Epclusa, from US$24,920 to US$2,425
- Merck’s diabetes medication, Januvia, from US$330 to US$100
- Novartis’ Multiple Sclerosis medication, Mayzent, from US$9,987 to US$1,137
- Sanofi’s prescription blood thinner, Plavix, from US$756 to US$16 and its insulin products at US$35 per month’s supply
Agreements included cutting cash-pay, direct-to-consumer prices of select drugs sold potentially through the TrumpRx.gov website, launching drugs in the US at prices equal to those in other wealthy nations and to increase manufacturing.
In return, companies can receive a three-year exemption from any tariffs.
In July, Trump sent letters to leaders of 17 major drugmakers, urging them to offer MFN prices to Medicaid and ensure new medicines launch at prices no higher than those in other wealthy countries.
Five companies had previously struck deals with the administration to rein in prices – Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk and EMD Serono, the US division of Germany’s Merck KGaA. Three companies – Regeneron, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie – are now left.
The companies pledged together to invest more than US$150 billion in US for R&D and manufacturing, according to officials.
