President Donald Trump (R) announced nine more deals with pharmaceutical companies on Friday, the latest effort to lower prices for some drugs in exchange for a three-year reprieve from threatened tariffs. The most recent deals now mean that 14 of the 17 manufacturers Trump targeted earlier this year have now come to the table with agreements to lower prices for Medicaid and sell discounted drugs directly to consumers who would pay out of pocket through TrumpRx, which is set to be launched in the new year. He also promised to meet with big insurance companies by early January to discuss lowering their prices.
The deals with drugmakers also include agreements to launch new medicines for the same prices as abroad, under Trump's Most Favored Nation pricing system. The nine companies include Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi. These agreements are similar to those already struck with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk. The three remaining companies that haven't announced deals with the administration yet are AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, and Regeneron, but those are expected soon after the holidays. NCPA will keep members informed on the practical implications of these agreements on independent pharmacies as more information becomes available.
Most notably, Trump ended the press announcement with a promise to meet with the big, rich insurance companies, who he said make "far, far more money than they're entitled to," either in Florida next week or in Washington, D.C. in the first week in January to ensure they are willing to cut their prices by 50 to 70 percent. He said he wants the money to go "directly to the people," and is hopeful the insurance companies will lower their prices, stating that they would otherwise have to be cut out of the system.
