U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday agreements with nine other pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of some medications, an action that is part of his efforts to equalize the cost of certain drugs with the lowest prices paid in other countries.
With today's agreement, which includes Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi, Novartis, Merck, Gilead, GSK, and Amgen, a total of 14 major pharmaceutical companies have now agreed to price reductions with the Trump Administration.
Under the agreement reached, these companies will offer some of their medications through a website called TrumpRx.gov, which the Trump government will launch in January. This site will direct consumers directly to the pharmaceutical companies' websites without the intermediation of health insurers.
In July, the Republican sent letters to 17 major pharmaceutical companies demanding that they lower the prices of several medications to the level of the system known as "most-favored-nation," which establishes for the U.S. the lowest price that product has in comparable developed countries.
AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk have already reached voluntary agreements with the Trump government to avoid Washington activating regulatory measures against them.
Trump himself stated today during the event at the White House to announce the new agreement that the three companies with which there is still no pact—Regeneron, AbbVie, and Johnson & Johnson—will soon sign an agreement with his Administration.
