President Trump announced Monday from the Oval Office that nine additional pharmaceutical companies have agreed to reduce prescription drug prices for American patients, extending a series of pricing agreements the administration has pursued since last fall.
The new participants are Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB. The White House says the agreements now cover nearly 90 percent of the branded drug market.
“I’m thrilled to announce a major expansion of one of our signature affordability initiatives, something that people have been trying to get for years, for decades, and I’m not even sure that other presidents tried,” Trump said at the announcement, which was attended by pharmaceutical executives.
“Nine new pharmaceutical companies are committing to deliver their lowest drug prices for American patients,” Trump said.
Under the agreements, every state Medicaid program will gain access to most favored nation pricing for products sold by the nine companies. The White House projects the deals will save Americans billions of dollars. According to the White House, the lower prices will apply to drugs treating hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration, glaucoma, liver disease, skin conditions, and various cancers. The companies also agreed that newly launched medicines will carry most favored nation pricing from the outset, a provision aimed at breakthrough treatments that often launch at prices out of reach for many patients and state programs.
18th Through 26th Agreements
This round marks the eighteenth through twenty-sixth most favored nation agreements the administration has secured since last fall. Companies that previously reached similar agreements include AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis, Regeneron, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie.
Manufacturing and a Strategic Reserve
The nine companies have also committed to a combined $19.6 billion in United States manufacturing investment, a move the administration frames as reducing reliance on foreign supply chains.
Several of the companies will donate pharmaceutical ingredients to the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve, known as SAPIR, which is intended to safeguard access to essential medicines during emergencies or supply disruptions.
- UCB will contribute 163 tons of levetiracetam, an anticonvulsant used to control seizures.
- Sun Pharma will contribute 71.4 tons of clindamycin and 6.75 tons of doxycycline, both antibiotics.
- Teva Pharmaceuticals will supply 45 metric tons of metronidazole, used against certain bacterial and parasitic infections, along with 4.8 tons of amlodipine, a blood pressure medication.
- Astellas will contribute 25 kilograms of tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant used to prevent organ rejection after transplants.
The agreements add to a broader pricing initiative that now spans most of the branded pharmaceutical market, combining Medicaid pricing commitments, domestic manufacturing pledges, and stockpiling of essential drug ingredients.
Add comment