Nine of The Largest Pharma Companies Ink Deals With Trump to Lower Drug Prices
Several of the largest U.S. and European-based drugmakers inked deals with President Donald Trump on Friday to voluntarily sell their medications for less, as his administration pushes to link the nation’s drug prices to cheaper ones abroad.
That includes Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Gilead, GSK, Sanofi, Roche’s Genentech, privately-held Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis. In exchange, the companies agreed to a three-year grace period during which their products won’t face Trump’s planned pharmaceutical-specific tariffs — as long as the drugmakers further invest in U.S. manufacturing.
Among the most notable pledges on Friday is that Bristol Myers Squibb will offer Eliquis, its blockbuster blood thinner and top-prescribed product, for free to Medicaid.
The companies make up the majority of the 17 drugmakers Trump sent letters to in July, calling on them to lower prices as part of his “most favored nation” policy. Trump signed an executive order in May to revive that policy, calling for prices to be increased outside of the U.S. and to “end global freeloading.”
“As of today, 14 out of the 17 largest pharmaceutical companies ... have now agreed to drastically lower drug prices for … the American people and the American patients,” Trump said at an event on Friday. “This represents the greatest victory for patient affordability in the history of American health care, by far, and every single American will benefit.”
Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and Regeneron are the remaining companies among the largest that haven’t signed drug pricing deals. But Trump noted that Johnson & Johnson “will be here next week.”
Source : CNBC.com
