President Trump sent letters to seventeen drug manufacturers, listing steps that must be taken to reduce prescription drug prices.
“Right now, brand name drug prices in the United States are up to three times higher on average than anywhere else for the identical medicines,” Trump’s letters say. “This unacceptable burden on hardworking American families ends with my Administration.”
“Most proposals my Administration has received to ‘resolve’ this critical issue promised more of the same: shifting blame and requesting policy changes that would result in billions of dollars in handouts to industry,” the letters add. “The only thing I will accept from drug manufacturers is a commitment that provides American families immediate relief from the vastly inflated drug prices and an end to the free ride of American innovation by European and other developed nations.”
Within 60 days, drug manufacturers must “extend most-favored nation (MFN) pricing to Medicaid, pledge to provide MFN pricing for newly-launched drugs, return increased revenues abroad to lower prices for American patients, and provide for direct purchasing at MFN pricing.
“Make no mistake: a collaborative effort towards achieving global pricing parity would be the most effective for companies, the government, and American patients,” Trump’s letters declare. “But if you refuse to step up, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices.”
Letters were sent to companies 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.
While the United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, it contributes to about 75% of global pharmaceutical profits, a White House fact sheet notes.
The letters come as Trump signed an executive order in May directing drug prices to be cut.
Americans should “have access to the most-favored-nation price for these products,” the order explains. “My Administration will take immediate steps to end global freeloading and, should drug manufacturers fail to offer American consumers the most-favored-nation lowest price, my Administration will take additional aggressive action.”
