Trump Announces Drug Pricing Deals With 17 Pharma Giants

Donald Trump announced sweeping agreements with 17 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, which represent 80 percent of the branded drug market, to lower prescription drug costs for American patients. The president characterized the initiative as the biggest cut in drug prices in the history of the country, stating that participating companies agreed to sell medicines at the lowest prices available anywhere in the world.

Specific price reductions include a weight-loss drug dropping from $1,350 to $199 per month and a cholesterol drug decreasing from $537 to $225. The final agreement in this series was reached with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which will sell its cholesterol drug Praluent for $225 on the TrumpRx website and commit $27 billion toward U.S.-based research, development, and manufacturing. Simultaneously, Regeneron announced the Food and Drug Administration approved Otarmeni, a gene therapy for congenital hearing loss, which will be provided to eligible U.S. patients at no charge for a limited period.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tied the policy to domestic production, asserting that $448 billion of drug manufacturing will return to the United States. While the administration describes these deals as transformative, Democrats in Congress have questioned the lack of public contract details and the FDA's voucher program. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated his team would share non-proprietary contract details with Congress.