Nine drug companies have agreed to lower prices on their key drugs for Medicaid recipients and people who buy drugs with cash, rather than through insurance, as part of a new deal with the Trump administration.
The White House said the agreement includes prescription drugs to treat asthma, some types of cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B and C, HIV, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes.
It comes as millions of people are expected to face double-digit increases in their health insurance premiums next year, and as more people move away from Affordable Care Act coverage or switch to cheaper plans in 2026.
President Donald Trump announced the deal at a news conference on Friday, surrounded by executives from each of the nine companies: Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi.
“This represents the greatest victory for patient affordability in the history of American health care to date,” Trump said.
Companies will receive a three-year exemption from customs duties in exchange for their obligations. Reuters reportedQuoting senior administration officials.
“If we didn’t have the use of tariffs, we would never be able to do this,” Trump said.
in press releaseThe list price for Epclusa, a hepatitis C drug from Gilead, will drop from $24,920 to $2,425, the White House said. Reyatase, an HIV drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb, will rise in price from $1,449 to $217, she said. The price of Plavix, a prescription blood-thinning drug from Sanofi, will fall to $16 from $756, according to the White House.
Consumers can buy the drugs at those prices through TrumpRX, a direct-to-consumer website run by the federal government that is expected to launch early next year. However, the agreement does not affect the prices people will pay if they are under private insurance plans.
The deal is part of a broader effort by Trump to align the cost of prescription drugs in the United States with the lowest prices in other wealthy countries — what is known as “most favored nation” pricing. Trump He signed an executive order In May, federal officials were directed to implement the pricing model.
A 2024 report from the RAND Corporationa nonprofit research organization, found that average prescription drug prices in the United States are nearly three times higher than in peer countries.
In July Trump Letters were sent to 17 large pharmaceutical companies Warn of consequences if they refuse to reduce medication costs. According to the White House, the letters said the federal government “will use every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from ongoing abusive drug pricing practices.”
Before Friday, five other drug companies — AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer — had already struck deals with the Trump administration to lower drug prices.
Trump said Friday that he expects the three remaining drug companies on the original list — AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron — to make deals as well. However, no such announcements have been made yet.