Trump announces ‘TrumpRx’ site for discounted drugs and deal with Pfizer to lower prices

By Tami Luhby, Kristen Holmes, Samantha Waldenberg, Alayna Treene, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a multipronged effort aimed at lowering drug costs in the United States, including the creation of a “TrumpRx” direct-to-consumer website where Americans can buy medicine at discounted prices and a sweeping deal with Pfizer to reduce the prices of many of its products.

“The United States is done subsidizing the health care of the rest of the world,” Trump said at a news conference, noting the administration is working with other drugmakers. “By taking this bold step, we’re ending the era of global price gouging at the expense of American families.”

Pfizer is the first drugmaker to voluntarily agree to all the demands Trump laid out in a July letter to pharmaceutical company CEOs. The president signaled others might soon follow.

Pfizer will sell drugs to Medicaid and set prices of new drugs at “Most Favored Nation” levels, the lowest price made available in peer countries. It will sell many of its primary care medicines and some specialty brand-name drugs at a 50% savings, on average, at TrumpRx, the company said. And it will expand its domestic manufacturing, while receiving a three-year reprieve on certain tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.

The effort comes as Trump has been haranguing drugmakers for months to lower their prices for US patients. But he acknowledged on Tuesday that his actions may result in prices rising in other countries, while coming down in America — calling that “fair.”

Trump has long fixated on the fact that Americans pay far more for medications than people in peer countries, particularly in Europe, largely because their governments often determine the cost. Prices are nearly three times as high in the US as they are in comparable countries, according to a Health and Human Services Department report released last year. Trump tried unsuccessfully to institute “Most Favored Nation” pricing during his first term.

The president revived the effort in May, issuing an executive order that directed drugmakers to start offering US patients the “Most Favored Nation” prices for their medicines or face consequences. He told HHS to come up with price targets within 30 days.

Unhappy with the progress, Trump wrote to the CEOs of 17 major pharmaceutical companies — including Pfizer — with a list of demands. The president gave the companies until Monday to comply.

The administration also sought on Tuesday to clarify what it means by “Most Favored Nation” pricing, saying it is based on the price people pay for a medication — the so-called net price, which takes into account discounts and rebates. The net price is then compared with the lowest price for the medication in other wealthy countries, and that becomes the starting point for the “Most Favored Nation” price in the US.

Offering “Most Favored Nation” pricing in Medicaid, which already receives hefty discounts, could save state agencies and the federal government money, but enrollees already pay little to nothing for medications.

Selling directly to consumers

In addition to matching global pricing, Trump has become enamored with trying to lower prices by having drugmakers sell their products directly to consumers. He did not provide many details on the TrumpRx site in his news conference, though a White House fact sheet indicated the price break would be off a drug’s list price, which is before other discounts and rebates are applied.

Several manufacturers have already set up such channels where US patients can buy medications without going through insurance.

For instance, Novo Nordisk announced last month that US patients can now get a month’s supply of Ozempic, the blockbuster diabetes drug, for $499, for those who pay for medications on their own and don’t go through insurance. The company is making Ozempic, which carries a list price of just under $1,000 per month, available at its NovoCare Pharmacy, which ships medications directly to cash-paying consumers.

On Monday, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, rolled out AmericasMedicines.com, a website that will connect patients with drug companies’ direct-purchase programs. It noted Trump’s call for such offerings.

“Some manufacturers are responding by offering new direct purchase programs that are more convenient and can save patients time and money — no hidden markups or fees and transparent pricing for patients and businesses,” PhRMA said in a statement.

Ramification warning

The drug industry has warned any “Most Favored Nation” directives could have serious ramifications.

“Importing foreign price controls would undermine American leadership, hurting patients and workers,” Alex Schriver, senior vice president at PhRMA, said in a statement in July.

The announcement comes just one day ahead of the Trump’s deadline for a 100% tariff on brand-name pharmaceutical imports — unless the drugmaker is building a manufacturing plant in the US. (Imports from the European Union, a major source of brand-name drug products, will face a 15% levy, per a trade agreement inked earlier this year.)

As part of Tuesday’s announcement, Pfizer said it will invest an additional $70 billion on research and manufacturing projects in coming years. The company will receive a three-year grace period on tariffs the administration plans to impose.

Tuesday’s move is among Trump’s recent efforts to get drugmakers to reduce their prices, which has been one of his central goals since his first presidential campaign. He has recently promised to slash prices by 1,500% — which is mathematically impossible, experts say.

While drugmakers have warily watched as Trump ramps up his rhetoric, industry experts have questioned whether the president’s previously announced steps would have much of an impact on either manufacturers or patients. The president does not have the legal authority to require drug companies to set their products at “Most Favored Nation” prices.

Some industry experts have said that it’s more likely that drugmakers will raise prices in other countries than lower them in the US. Eli Lilly announced in August that it would hike the price of its weight-loss drug Mounjaro in the United Kingdom to reduce its cost in America. And Bristol Myers Squibb said earlier this month that it would sell its schizophrenia medication Cobenfy for the same list price in the United Kingdom as it is the in US.

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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