Drug pricing

Novo Nordisk follows Christmas oral Wegovy approval with quick launch; Eli Lilly is headed for $94.3 billion in annual revenue by 2027, analysts predict; nine more pharmas strike Most Favored Nation deals but half remain unsigned; experts call for stability and rare disease action at FDA, and all eyes are on M&A ahead of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference next week.

Only a handful of the top pharmas have signed Most Favored Nation drug pricing deals with the White House, while smaller biotechs continue to hang in limbo.

After getting the crucial first-mover advantage with an FDA approval for a weight loss pill, Novo Nordisk looks to win the market before rival Lilly can arrive with its own oral option for obesity.

More than a dozen pharmas have recently struck deals with the White House to lower drug prices. Nevertheless, drugmakers reportedly plan to raise the U.S. prices of at least 350 branded medications.

Leerink analysts hailed the deals as a sign that President Trump “is unlikely to attack the industry in 2026.”

Experts unpack the implications of CBER Director Vinay Prasad’s claim that COVID vaccines have caused 10+ child deaths; the 2025 Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference continues following two disappointing readouts; and Novo Nordisk’s amycretin yields promising weight loss results.

U.K.-based pharmas will not face tariffs as long as Donald Trump is president, according to the agreement.

Following Novo Nordisk’s price cuts for its own GLP-1 medicines, Eli Lilly is offering discounts for the obesity drug purchased through LillyDirect. Both pharmas recently struck a deal with the White House for cheaper prices via the yet-to-be-launched TrumpRx.

The discounts should be compared against the drugs’ “ultimate net price” rather than their indicated list price to gauge the true impact of the negotiations, BMO Capital Markets analysts said.

Merck has made a $9.2 billion play for Cidara, and there’s another bidding war afoot, this one for sleep biotech Avadel. Meanwhile, Rick Pazdur has taken the helm at CDER while tensions run high between FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Health Secretary RFK Jr.