President Trump on Friday announced another major pharmaceutical company had agreed to his “most favored nation” (MFN) policy, pledging that the cost to Medicaid patients for its drugs remains on par with the lowest price charged in other countries.
The policy also requires that companies not give better prices to other developed countries on new drugs and create a way to sell directly to consumers.
“AstraZeneca, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the United Kingdom, is committing to offer Americans major discounts on their vast catalog of prescription drugs,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
AstraZeneca will be listing many of its products on the forthcoming TrumpRx.com website, according to Trump. Senior administration officials say the website will go up some time early next year.
Trump was joined by AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
AstraZeneca this week broke ground on a new facility in Virginia, an event Young and Oz attended.
Trump announced from the Oval Office last week that Pfizer had agreed to meet all four of his MFN pricing demands, making it the first drugmaker to do so. At the time, senior administration officials said talks were ongoing with other pharmaceutical companies.
“All medications AstraZeneca introduces to the American market going forward will also be sold at these heavily discounted rates,” Trump said Friday. “Furthermore, AstraZeneca will invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years for research and development of new drugs and to onshore manufacturing facilities across the country, like the new plant that broke ground yesterday in Charlottesville, Va.”
This development will exempt AstraZeneca from the 100 percent tariffs the Trump administration threatened to enforce on drugmakers who are not in the process of breaking ground or building facilities in the U.S.
Kennedy said he and other health officials in the Trump administration were “pessimistic” about Trump’s MFN plan at first.
“When we came in, I have to say I was pessimistic about doing MFN. Dr. Oz was pessimistic,” said Kennedy, adding that Trump had the idea to create leverage with his tariff threats.
“The president asked us to do three things. One, to get MFN prices. Two, to not bankrupt these companies. He understands that America has to be the center for innovation,” he added. “The drug industry needs to innovate … it’s critical for its bottom line. It’s critical for the healthy American people. And he asked us also to make sure that those companies would keep their promise.”
Soriot echoed one of Trump’s frequent criticisms that other countries have taken advantage of the U.S. Part of Trump’s executive order includes directing drugmakers to use trade policy to raise prices internationally so that revenue is reinvested into lowering American prices.
“It’s a big win for patients and the health care system as a whole, but it’s also a big win for the economy and for taxpayers,” Soriot said.
“Because it supports rebalancing the cost of innovation across wealthy nations. For too long, America has shouldered a disproportionate portion of the world’s R&D,” he added, referring to research and development. “That imbalance is not sustainable. It had to change, and equalization levels the playing field, with wealthy nations contributing their fair share to the cost and the risk associated with biopharmaceuticals R&D.”
Updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT.