Trump Announces Deal With Pfizer To Cut Drug Prices In US

US President Donald Trump announced that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will lower the prices of several of its medications in the United States, making it the first major drugmaker to agree to the administration’s

demands. The announcement comes after Donald Trump had sent letters to 17 leading pharmaceutical companies in July, demanding they match prices paid overseas- a policy he has called “most favored nation pricing.” He gave them until September 29 to submit binding commitments. Pfizer is the first company to publicly reach an agreement.

Donald Trump said the deal would mark a turning point in prescription drug costs, long among the highest in the developed world.

“Americans have been paying almost three times what other nations pay. That ends now,” he said.

The White House is also preparing to roll out TrumpRx, a new direct-to-consumer website that will allow Americans to purchase medicines online. Pfizer would begin selling some of its drugs directly through the platform, it was reported earlier.

The US government has held one-on-one talks with drugmakers in recent months. US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a cabinet meeting that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had even used the threat of tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry as additional leverage in negotiations.

In May, Trump signed a sweeping executive order directing drug companies to cut US prices to match those abroad. He warned that if companies failed to comply, the administration could use rulemaking to enforce reductions or even pursue the import of cheaper medicines from overseas.