A who's who of Big Pharma have struck a bargain with the Trump administration to cut script costs while dodging tariffs, ramping up the President’s "Most Favoured Nation" (MFN) pricing push that was previously sidelined during his first term.
Unveiled at the White House on Friday, the deal includes nine American pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi.
The cohort has agreed to peg their price tags for Medicaid and direct-to-consumer sales to the rock-bottom rates paid by other wealthy nations.
As a sweetener, the administration has greenlit a three-year freeze on potential import tariffs - a bargaining chip President Trump has often wielded during talks.
The agreement also ring-fences these firms from the 10-15% duties the President had threatened to slap on foreign-made meds.
On top of the price cuts, the nine outfits have pledged to funnel at least US$150 billion into United States manufacturing and R&D spend.
GSK and Bristol Myers Squibb also agreed to gift six months' worth of active pharmaceutical ingredients to a national stockpile, aiming to shore up supply lines.
This fresh round of signatories lifts the total headcount to 14, trailing earlier pacts with industry leaders Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and EMD Serono.
While talks grind on with holdouts such as Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie, the administration touted Friday's handshake as a "massive victory" for U.S. healthcare affordability.
Deja vu
The last time the White House took a serious swing at pegging U.S. drug prices to international rates was back in 2020, during the twilight of President Trump’s first term.
Industry hit back immediately, with organisations including PhRMA (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) and the Association of Community Cancer Centers immediately filing lawsuits, arguing the administration had bypassed proper rulemaking procedures.
Federal judges agreed, slapping injunctions on the order just days before it was set to go live in January 2021.
The policy was effectively dead in the water, left to be formally rescinded by the incoming Biden administration.
But the industry's track record of quashing price controls goes back even further.
The 'crown jewel' of pharmaceutical lobbying remains the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, signed in by then-President George W. Bush.
That legislation created Medicare Part D but included the infamous "non-interference clause," which explicitly banned the federal government from negotiating drug prices directly with manufacturers.
TrumpRx to launch in January
Yet this time, the price adjustment deal between government and industry seems to be locked in.
And a key pillar of the accord is the imminent rollout of TrumpRx.gov, a federal platform scheduled to go live in January 2026.
According to the White House, the portal will pave the way for direct-to-patient transactions, cutting out the insurance middlemen to serve up steep markdowns and providing hip-pocket relief for cash-paying punters.
Gilead Sciences has agreed to slash the sticker price of its hepatitis C cure, Epclusa, from a lofty $24,920 to just $2,425 for buyers using the new channel.
Likewise, Amgen will trim the cost of its cholesterol blocker Repatha by ~60%, taking it down to $239.
Sanofi is poised to list its blood thinner Plavix for $16, a far cry from $756, and has capped its insulin wares at $35 for a month's supply.
In a statement post-announcement, Merck confirmed it would list its diabetes suite - including Januvia and Janumet - at "affordable prices" straight to the consumer.
The pharma giant said these moves are part of a commitment to ensure American patients aren't subsidising global innovation.
