In an interview with German-language outlet Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said the company is exploring ways to remove or minimize the drug price gap between the U.S. and its other markets in similarly developed countries.
Novartis is exploring options to lower the prices of its medicines in the U.S., according to CEO Vas Narasimhan. This push from the company comes amidst President Donald Trump’s campaign to lower drug costs in the country.
Narasimhan made the comments in an interview with German-language news outlet Neue Zuercher Zeitung, according to reporting from Bloomberg News on Saturday. Despite a potential price cut for its products, Narasimhan remains confident that Novartis will be able to deliver on its sales forecasts.
“We’re working with the [U.S.] government to find constructive solutions so Americans pay less for their medicines,” Narasimhan said, adding that Novartis’ profits will continue to “grow faster than revenue.” The pharma doesn’t yet see the need to adjust its full-year guidance. “No matter what happens, under current U.S. law, any changes should be manageable,” the CEO said.
Novartis is also currently looking at ways that it could remove or minimize the pharmaceutical price gap between the U.S. and other similarly developed countries, he added.
Since taking office in January, Trump has made lowering drug costs a cornerstone of his policy push. In May, he signed an executive order on Most Favored Nation drug pricing, which seeks to lower drug pricing in the U.S. to the same level as in other economically comparable countries. Since executive orders lack legislative power, in late July, Trump directly appealed to the CEOs of 17 Big Pharma companies to comply with the policy “within the next 60 days.”
Novartis is among these companies, alongside Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Gilead, Merck, Novo Nordisk and more. “If you refuse to step up, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued drug pricing practices,” Trump wrote in a letter to the heads of these companies.
Also in July, the FDA announced it was looking at the possibility of leveraging its recently launched Commissioner’s Priority Review program to incentivize companies to lower drug prices. The voucher aims to shorten drug reviews to 1–2 months for companies that align with certain U.S. national priorities. When the agency opened its pilot program later that month, it named “increasing affordability” as one of these priorities. The voucher, it said at the time, could be given to a company “that lowers the U.S. price of a drug or drugs consistent with Most Favored Nation pricing.” Last week, Wall Street analysts speculated, according to Reuters, that Eli Lilly’s orforglipron could qualify for one of these vouchers, “as it treats a high-burden chronic condition and can be priced at parity.”
