Trump to Announce Pfizer Deal to Lower US Drug Prices

As part of the president’s ambitious initiative to reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the United States, Donald Trump is expected to announce on Tuesday a deal with Pfizer. White House sources told CNN, but details of the agreement remain unknown for now.

According to available information, this step is part of the administration’s overall campaign to lower prices for American patients. At the same time, the “Most Favored Nation” policy is being accelerated, which aims to bring domestic prices to the level of the lowest prices in comparable countries.

President Trump is doing more to reduce health-care costs than anyone else in Washington, said Kush Desi, White House press secretary, emphasizing that the president “uses the powers of the federal government to radically lower drug prices for ordinary Americans. Democrats have talked about lowering prices for years, but only President Trump is actually doing it.”

In May, Trump signed an executive order requiring drug manufacturers to offer American patients the price under the “Most Favored Nation” principle or face possible consequences, namely – directing the Department of Health and Human Services to develop corresponding norms and the possible reduction of FDA approval for drugs that may be “inadequate, ineffective, or misbranded.” Also tasked with setting price targets within 30 days.

In July, Trump reached out to the heads of 17 leading pharmaceutical companies with demands that manufacturers voluntarily extend the applicability of the “Most Favored Nation” to all medicines provided under the Medicaid program. It was also demanded that Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurers pay such prices for all new drugs. Compliance was expected within 60 days.

Additionally, the administration is promoting direct-to-consumer channels where patients could buy medicines without intermediaries at lower prices. Some manufacturers have already launched similar online platforms for individual drugs.

Risks and industry response

The industry warns that any directives modeled on the “Most Favored Nation” could have serious consequences.

“Importing foreign price-regulation mechanisms will undermine American leadership, harming patients and workers”

The announcement comes a day before the administration’s plan to impose a 100% import tariff on medicines from well-known brands – if the manufacturer does not build production capacity in the United States. Imports from the EU will remain at the 15% rate under the previous trade agreement.

According to experts, this is also one of the price-pressure moves, but analysts warn of a limited real impact on drug costs. Lawyers and economists emphasize that the president does not have direct authority to require companies to apply the “Most Favored Nation,” and many experts doubt that prices in the United States will fall significantly solely due to this policy.

At the same time, analysts note that some manufacturers may raise prices abroad to offset declines inside the United States. For example, Eli Lilly recently said it would raise the price of its weight-loss drug Mounjaro in the United Kingdom, and Bristol Myers Squibb earlier this month confirmed that their schizophrenia drug Cobenfy would stay at the same price line in the United Kingdom as in the United States.