President Donald Trump is taking aim at America’s drug prices. He unveiled a sweeping deal with Pfizer on Tuesday that he says will slash costs for patients and taxpayers.
The announcement came just hours before the government shut down and included a promise to deliver discounts through a new website called TrumpRx.
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
Pfizer agrees to lower drug costs
Pfizer, one of the world’s biggest drugmakers, is now on board with Trump’s “most-favored-nation” pricing plan, committing to match the lowest price offered in any developed country.
The company produces the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and the treatment Paxlovid. Its other products include numerous cancer drugs, the blood thinner Eliquis, and Prevnar pneumonia vaccines.
“All new medications introduced by Pfizer to the American market will be sold at the reduced most-favored-nation cost,” Trump said. “So we’ll be paying essentially what other countries are paying who have been much lower, much, much lower for many, many years.”
TrumpRx
Pfizer also agreed to sell its drugs on a new website that the federal government will operate. The administration plans to launch the site, called TrumpRx, in 2026.
The site will allow those without insurance to buy drugs directly from manufacturers. Pfizer says some drugs will be 50% cheaper through the site.
And while Medicaid recipients could see state savings, most consumers won’t see a price change until the site goes live.
The deal also includes a $70 billion U.S. investment from Pfizer in exchange for a three-year tariff reprieve. The White House did not share specific details about the investment.
However, in a statement, Pfizer noted that the investment is in domestic manufacturing facilities dedicated to U.S. research, development and critical projects over the next few years.
Trump’s efforts to lower drug costs
The deal with Pfizer comes months after Trump signed an executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs. The order said if companies don’t lower prices, they could face new limits on what the government will pay.
During the Pfizer deal announcement on Tuesday, Trump noted how significant the announcement was, saying, “I can’t tell you how big this is.”
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had similar sentiments, saying, “We are turning the tide and we are reversing an unfair situation.”
Experts respond to TrumpRx
Since Trump announced the new prescription website, experts from various universities have weighed in on what they think the impacts will be.
NPR spoke with Ameet Sarpatwari, an assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School who specializes in pharmaceutical policy.
Sarpatwari said the website is more “underwhelming than what the president is touting.” He said the average consumer likely will not benefit from the administration’s deal.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center professor and prescription drug pricing expert Stacie Dusetzina also spoke up on the announcement. She said it isn’t clear yet to what extent the pricing changes will be. She noted that Pfizer is keeping specific terms of the deal confidential.
