MAKING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AFFORDABLE FOR AMERICANS AND TAXPAYERS: Today, President Donald J. Trump reached out to major pharmaceutical companies with a clear directive: it’s time to bring prescription drug prices in the United States in line with the lowest rates found in other developed countries, a concept referred to as the most-favored-nation (MFN) price. The outlined measures include:
- Mandating that manufacturers provide MFN prices to all Medicaid patients.
- Insisting that drug companies guarantee that prices for new medications in the U.S. won’t be higher than those offered to other wealthy nations.
- Offering manufacturers a pathway to bypass intermediaries and directly sell medications to patients, as long as these prices do not exceed those available in comparable countries.
- Leveraging trade policy to assist manufacturers in increasing international prices, provided that these additional revenues are reinvested into reducing costs for American patients and taxpayers.
These letters make it clear: if manufacturers “refuse to step up,” the federal government will not hesitate to utilize every resource at its disposal to shield American families from exploitative drug pricing practices.
Letters have been dispatched to prominent companies including AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi.
COMBATING GLOBAL FREELOADING ON U.S. PHARMACEUTICAL INNOVATION: President Trump is taking bold steps to rectify a system that allows pharmaceutical companies to charge Americans significantly more than their counterparts in other affluent nations.
- Recent data reveals that U.S. consumers pay over three times the cost for brand-name drugs compared to other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), even after factoring in discounts offered domestically.
- While the United States comprises less than five percent of the global population, a staggering 75% of worldwide pharmaceutical profits are generated from American taxpayers.
- Drug companies enjoy substantial research subsidies and significant healthcare expenditures from the U.S. government. Instead of translating these benefits into lower prices for American consumers, they opt to discount their products internationally to access foreign markets, thus using inflated U.S. prices to subsidize those discounts. As a result, Americans are effectively funding both pharmaceutical profits and foreign healthcare systems.
FULFILLING PROMISES TO PRIORITIZE AMERICAN PATIENTS: Today’s correspondence marks a significant advancement in President Trump’s commitment to ensuring that Americans receive the best possible deals on prescription medications.
- On May 12, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients,” instructing the administration to undertake various measures aimed at aligning U.S. drug prices with those of similar countries.
- Following this Order, discussions with pharmaceutical manufacturers were initiated to achieve MFN pricing domestically. Today’s letters indicate that the proposals from the industry have been inadequate, and moving forward, President Trump will only accept commitments that provide immediate financial relief to American families from exorbitant drug prices, while ending the free ride enjoyed by Europe and other developed nations on American innovation.
- President Trump has been unwavering in his quest to tackle the unjust and outrageous drug prices faced by Americans:
- President Trump: “Time and again, our citizens pay outrageously higher prices than other countries for the exact same medication from the same production line, effectively subsidizing socialism abroad while facing skyrocketing prices at home. We end up spending vast sums to provide affordable drugs to another country. And when I mention the price disparity, we see examples where costs are four or five times higher.”
