Trump announces new slate of drug pricing deals, touting ‘biggest thing to happen in medicine’

President Donald Trump expanded one of his signature healthcare reform initiatives Monday, announcing new partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription prices ahead of the midterm elections.

“For decades, Americans paid the highest drug prices anywhere in the world by far. It wasn’t even close. We were ripped off by the pharmaceutical companies, and we were ripped off more than anything by other countries throughout the world,” Trump said in the Oval Office, surrounded by company executives. “But under that most favored nation agreement, we now pay the lowest price paid by other countries anywhere in the world.”

Ahead of the midterms, the White House has been seeking to sharpen its affordability message, as polling indicates voters’ top concerns are the economy and the cost of living. New polling from Reuters/Ipsos from Aug. 28-31 indicates that 47% of registered voters rank the cost of living as the “single most important factor” deciding their midterm vote.

Asked by a reporter if healthcare prices or gas prices are more important to midterm voters, Trump said he thinks “everything’s important” but “healthcare is to me very important.”

“You’re talking about life,” he said. “It’s very big.”

The nine new deals announced Monday are with mid-sized pharmaceutical companies, including Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB, the White House said. The new agreements bring the total number of drug companies with most-favored-nation pricing to 26, covering nearly 90% of the branded drug market.

“It’s the biggest thing to happen in medicine, I think,” Trump added. “This has a tremendous impact on healthcare because, as you know, pharmaceutical medicine is such a big part of health.”

The deals are projected to “save Americans more than $600 billion over a very short period of time,” according to Trump. He touted major savings for weight loss drugs such as Ozempic by “more than $1,800 a year” and said fertility drugs are saving patients who use them “more than $6,000 per birth.”

The agreements announced Monday will reduce prices on drugs for diseases including hemophilia, Parkinson’s, liver disease, and various forms of cancer, the White House said. The nine pharmaceutical companies have also agreed to invest “at least $19.6 billion collectively in U.S. manufacturing in the near term.”

Trump was joined at the event by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. 

Lutnick said the Commerce Department is involved in the agreements because they want the drug companies to reshore since “reshoring produces national security.”

“We need our drugs made in America, and then that brings jobs and investment in America,” Lutnick said. “We all talk about affordability. Drug costs are the number one cost.”

“So driving down costs today from all these companies, you now have 90% of the drugs covered,” he said.