President Donald Trump used a prime time address from the White House on Wednesday night to spotlight what he described as unprecedented reductions in prescription drug prices, outlining how the TrumpRx program and most-favored-nation drug pricing will begin taking effect in January.
Trump told his fellow Americans, “I’m doing what no politician of either party has ever done – standing up to the special interest to dramatically reduce the price of prescription drugs.”
He continued:
I negotiated directly with the drug companies in foreign nations to which were taken advantage of our country for many decades to slash prices on drugs and pharmaceuticals by as much as 400 500 and even 600% in other words, your drug costs will be plummeting downward, and I use the threat of tariffs to get foreign countries who would never have done it to pay the cost of this giant dollar reduction.
They stopped ripping us off, and it began as of four days ago. There has never been anything like this in the history of our country. Drugs have only gone up, but now they’ll be going down by numbers never conceived possible. It’s called most favored nation, and no president has ever had the courage or ability to get this done until now. The first of these unprecedented price reductions will be available starting in January through a new website, Trumprx.gov, and these big price cuts will greatly reduce the cost of health care.
Trump’s comments on TrumpRx build on a series of agreements announced since late September that use a most-favored-nation framework and direct-to-consumer sales to tie U.S. drug prices to what is paid for the same medications in foreign countries.
In November, Breitbart News reported that Trump had reached deals with five major pharmaceutical companies—Pfizer, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk—covering a wide range of commonly used medications.
Under the first agreement, reached with Pfizer on September 30, state Medicaid programs gained access to most-favored-nation prices, while several drugs became available to consumers at steep discounts through direct purchase. The dermatitis ointment Eucrisa was slated to be offered at 80 percent off, rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz at 40 percent off, and migraine medication Zavzpret at a 50 percent reduction when bought directly.
A follow-up deal with AstraZeneca on October 10 expanded the model to inhalers used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the White House, BEVESPI AEROSPHERE would be available at a discount equal to 654 percent of the deal price, BREZTRI AEROSPHERE at a 98 percent discount, and AIRSUPRA at a 96 percent discount for patients purchasing directly.
On October 16, Trump announced an agreement with EMD Serono that applied to its full in vitro fertilization therapy portfolio. When used together in a typical IVF protocol, the company said eligible patients could access an 84 percent discount off list prices, potentially saving thousands of dollars per treatment cycle.
The most recent agreements, unveiled last week, involved Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Novo Nordisk agreed to cut the monthly prices of {“}\\\]and Wegovy from roughly $1,000 and $1,350, respectively, to $350, while Eli Lilly agreed to reduce Zepbound and Orforglipron from $1,086 per month to $346. Medicare prices for those four drugs will be $245 per month.
The companies also agreed to specific price reductions on additional medications, with Novo Nordisk providing widely used insulin products, including NovoLog and Tresiba, at $35 per month, and Eli Lilly offering discounted prices on other treatments such as Emgality for migraines and Trulicity for diabetes, each reduced hundreds of dollars from their list prices.
