Trump announces drug pricing deals with nine more pharmaceutical companies

Nine more drugmakers join pricing agreements

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that nine pharmaceutical and biotech companies have reached agreements with his administration to lower prescription drug prices for Americans. The new companies are Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB, as reported by multiple outlets.

Trump said at the White House that every drug "will be at the lowest prices available anywhere in the world." The agreements bring the total number of pharmaceutical manufacturers with most-favored-nation (MFN) pricing deals with the administration to 26, covering 89% of the branded drug market, according to the White House, a figure also cited by Bloomberg Tax News.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday that nine out of 10 drugs prescribed in the S. are now covered by the deals, as reported by STAT.

Terms of the deals

Under the agreements, the nine companies have pledged to sell new medications to S. patients at prices comparable to the lowest prices in peer countries and to offer drugs to state Medicaid programs at most-favored-nation prices, according to STAT and the Washington Examiner. Trump said the companies have agreed to "offer all of their drugs to state Medicaid programs at most-favored-nation prices" and to offer all new medications to S. consumers "at the lowest cost anywhere in the world."

The deals cover medicines used to treat a range of costly chronic and rare diseases, including cancer, haemophilia, Parkinson's disease, macular degeneration, glaucoma, liver disease, and skin conditions, as reported by The Economic Times.

In addition to pricing commitments, some companies have agreed to bolster domestic manufacturing and contribute to S. medical stockpiles. UCB, Sun Pharma, Teva, and Astellas will together contribute 290 metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the S. strategic reserves, according to STAT and the Washington Examiner. The Economic Times reported that Sun Pharma has committed to contribute active pharmaceutical ingredients to the S. Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve, and that UCB will contribute 163 tonnes of levetiracetam, Teva 45 tonnes of metronidazole and 8 tonnes of amlodipine, and Astellas 25 kg of tacrolimus.

Trump also said the companies are committing "billions of dollars to research and development in the United States."

Background of the MFN initiative

The agreements are the latest expansion of the administration's drug pricing agenda. Trump signed an executive order in May 2025 directing his administration to pursue MFN prescription drug pricing, and in July of that year sent letters to 17 leading pharmaceutical manufacturers demanding steps to bring S. drug prices down, as reported by The Economic Times. Pfizer became the first drugmaker to reach an MFN agreement in September 2025, followed by agreements with several major companies including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, and Regeneron.

The administration launched gov in February 2026, and the White House said patients have saved more than $700 million through the program since its launch. The Council of Economic Advisers estimates that Trump's MFN agreements could generate $600 billion in savings over the next decade, according to the White House.

Impact and reactions

Pharmaceutical prices fell by 0.8% in July and are down 3.1% from last year, the steepest annual decline in more than 60 years, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index report, as cited by the Washington Examiner. Chris Klomp, senior adviser to HHS Secretary Kennedy and chief negotiator of the MFN deals, attributed the drop in drug prices to the pricing deals and the TrumpRx aggregator website. "These are real impacts for everyday Americans in their pockets," Klomp said. "It's affordability. It's the president fighting for affordability. It's the president honoring the promise to fight for affordability and doing it in one of the most conspicuous places possible, which is at the pharmacy counter."

The administration has credited the threat of tariffs on foreign imported drugs and its "America First" trade policy for encouraging pharmaceutical investment in the S. Trump said the companies are committing to contribute 290 metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the S. strategic reserve, adding that "by stockpiling such materials in vast quantities, we can ensure Americans are never left without them in the event of an emergency."

Not all details of the new deals, including their impact on Medicare, have been publicly released, as STAT reported. The voluntary agreements do not mean drugmakers are in full agreement with the administration's aims; drugmakers are still considering legal options to overturn the administration's drug pricing policies, according to STAT. In April, administration officials promised to work out agreements with the "many hundreds" of other drugmakers, and the White House has repeatedly declined to make the details public while pushing Congress to codify the agreements.

Trump has also called on Congress to pass his proposed Great Healthcare Plan, which would aim to lower drug prices and insurance premiums while increasing price transparency, according to The Economic Times.