Trump pressures 17 pharma CEOs to cut US drug prices
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US President Donald Trump has sent letters to the chief executives of 17 major pharmaceutical companies, urging immediate action to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Donald Trump urges 17 pharmaceutical CEOs to lower prescription drug costs for Americans.
- Trump wants “most favoured nation pricing” for Medicaid, guaranteed new drug pricing, and overseas revenue returned.
- Companies have until September 29 to commit, as US drug prices are "more than three times" other nations' (Reuters).
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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump sent letters to the leaders of 17 major pharmaceutical companies outlining how they should slash US prescription drug prices to match those paid overseas, the White House said on July 31.
Mr Trump signed a sweeping executive order in May demanding drugmakers cut US medicine prices to match those abroad, saying that if companies did not comply, the government could use rulemaking to bring prices down or pursue other measures, such as importing cheaper medicines from overseas.
Mr Trump sent the letters to the chief executives of Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Regeneron, Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, among others, after industry proposals on implementing his order fell short, the president said.
Copies of the letters were posted on his Truth Social account.
Shares of Pfizer and Eli Lilly dropped about 2 per cent each, while the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index was down 2.4 per cent.
Mr Trump called on drugmakers to provide so-called most-favoured-nation prices to every patient enrolled in the government Medicaid health programme for low-income people, and to guarantee such pricing for new drugs.
The policy is aimed at cutting US prescription drug prices to the lowest possible price paid by members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which includes most of the world’s largest economies.
Mr Trump also said companies must return excess overseas revenue to US patients and taxpayers, but did not provide details on how that would work or what he meant by excess revenue.
He is requiring drugmakers to stipulate they would not offer other developed nation better prices than what they offer the United States, and said his administration would provide ways to cut out middlemen and sell directly to patients, provided they do so at most-favoured-nation prices.
He gave the companies until Sept 29 to respond with binding commitments to those terms.
If drugmakers refuse to step up, Mr Trump wrote in the letters, the administration will “deploy every tool in our arsenal” to end “abusive drug pricing practices.”
US patients pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations. The country also invests heavily in pharmaceutical research and development. Drugmakers have said drastic price cuts would stifle innovation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holding up a letter from US President Donald Trump to Mr David Ricks, Eli Lilly’s CEO, during a media briefing on July 31.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose said the company is working closely with the Trump Administration and Congress to improve access and affordability for American patients.
“Our discussions have been productive,” she said.
The letters are unlikely to make much difference, said one drugmaker lobbyist, who asked not to named as they were not authorised to speak publicly, noting that the Trump administration has already pushed for voluntary changes and that some companies have already pledged to build new US manufacturing plants.
With little support in the US Congress for most favoured nation pricing, major, lasting reforms were unlikely, the lobbyist said. REUTERS
