Drug pricing
Though details remain scant, the pending order is expected to be the latest effort in President Donald Trump’s campaign to bring drug prices down to the same level as economically similar countries.
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.
Merck, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca have similarly suspended or outright canceled investments in the U.K. in the past week after a sizeable increase in a mandatory levy in the region.
As the political winds shift on a whim and public distrust of the pharma industry reaches fever pitch over drug pricing, executives are being asked to navigate an impassible path.
There’s still much more to come from the White House on tariffs, but the European Union has now reached a trade agreement with the U.S.
A draft copy of an upcoming MAHA report reveals a strategy in lockstep with recent HHS actions such as reviving the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines; Viking Therapeutics reports robust efficacy from mid-stage oral obesity candidate but is tripped up by tolerability concerns; Novo Nordisk wins approval for Wegovy in MASH; and Lilly takes a pricing stand.
The Trump administration’s ever-changing tariffs and Most Favored Nation drug pricing are part of a blizzard of unclear, potentially illegal tactics that leave observers throwing their hands in the air.
Drugs are being invented and manufactured right here in the U.S. by Americans, for Americans. So why doesn’t the industry hold the same respect as steelworkers or other all-American pursuits?
As Trump has pressured drugmakers to lower the cost of medicines in the U.S., the pharma industry has coalesced behind a message of rebalancing what nations pay to better reflect the innovation and value of drugmaking.
President Donald Trump loves a deal, but Most Favored Nation drug pricing isn’t a good one for anyone.
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