US President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on pharmaceutical companies to slash drug prices, demanding they commit within weeks to his “most-favoured nation” policy, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Axios in the premiere episode of The Axios Show.
The policy, which would require the US to pay less for drugs than comparable countries, extends Trump’s long-standing effort to reshape drug pricing through public threats and shaming. It also heightens tensions with drugmakers, who face the added risk of tariffs if they resist.
“The president’s going to say that you drug manufacturers cannot sell here unless you sell there at a higher price. Stop being willing to sell to them at such a low price,” Lutnick said. He added that Trump believes forcing the EU and other nations to pay more would reduce the burden on American consumers, who currently shoulder a disproportionate share of research and development costs.
Donald Trump previously sent letters to CEOs of 17 major pharmaceutical companies — including Pfizer, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Novo Nordisk — demanding binding commitments on lowering prices, bringing manufacturing back to the US, and expanding direct-to-consumer sales.
Lutnick, who recounted his own experience paying high drug costs while being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said pricing parity could save Medicare, Medicaid, and the public as much as $1 trillion. “I mean, they’re great American companies, but they sell for $1,000 here and $200 overseas. Come on, that’s got to change. Let’s get them all to 500 bucks and we’re all better off,” he told Axios.
Pharma pushback
The pharmaceutical industry is pushing back. “Importing foreign price controls would undermine American leadership, hurting patients and workers,” Alex Schriver, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at PhRMA, told Axios. He argued that instead of adopting European-style controls, US policymakers should target middlemen who inflate costs and press foreign governments to pay a fairer share.
Trump proposed a version of the most-favoured nation policy during his first term, but it was derailed by lawsuits from drugmakers and never implemented. Legal battles are almost certain if he tries again. But his efforts would carry more weight if Congress passed it legislatively — something Republicans have resisted.
ALSO READ | Donald Trump announces crackdown on drug ads on TV, social media
