Trump announces new agreements with companies to reduce drug prices

Washington (USA), 19 Dec. (LaPresse) – Donald Trump has announced pricing agreements with nine more pharmaceutical companies based on the ‘most favoured nation’ principle. These voluntary agreements are in addition to those already signed with five pharmaceutical companies, including the two leading manufacturers of weight loss drugs. The initiative has become one of the central points of the Administration’s health policy. The ‘most favoured nation’ programme requires pharmaceutical companies to apply the lowest price available in comparable countries to drugs sold in the United States. The pharmaceutical companies involved in today’s event at the White House are: Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi. Their drugs are used by hundreds of millions of Americans to treat cancer, diabetes and autoimmune, dermatological, neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, a senior Administration official told reporters ahead of the announcement. ‘The most-favoured-nation principle has gone from a bold policy to an industry standard, and this has happened in record time,’ the official said, noting that ‘the industry’s initial hesitation has turned into collaboration.’ All nine companies are among the 12 remaining that had not yet reached an agreement with the Administration after Trump sent letters to 17 pharmaceutical companies in July with a specific list of demands for price reductions.