Nine big pharma companies have reached agreements with the Trump administration to lower prices for certain drugs in the US under the President’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy.
Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, MSD, Novartis, and Sanofi have tied deals with the White House to slash prices on certain prescription medicines in exchange for pharmaceutical tariff relief.
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In a statement, the White House said that every State Medicaid programme will have access to the MFN drug prices, resulting in “billions of dollars in savings”. MFN is a policy framework that ties US drug prices to the lowest prices in other developed countries. In separate statements, the drugmakers said they would have three years of tariff exemption and not be subject to future pricing mandates.
With the deals in place, patients will see big reductions in medicine costs when purchasing directly through TrumpRx, the US government’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform set to launch in January 2026.
Commenting on the deals, Citi analysts said: “These developments offer [Wall] Street additional confidence that policy overhangs are indeed abating and help bolster the sector’s recent momentum into 2026.”
The agreements reduce prices on drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hepatitis B and C, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and certain cancers, among others.
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By GlobalDataFor example, BMS will provide its blood thinner Eliquis (apixaban) for free to the Medicaid programme.
BMS CEO Christopher Boerner commented: “We are taking direct action to improve the lives of millions of Americans, ensuring our nation’s most vulnerable have access to this critical medicine at no cost.”
GSK, meanwhile, will cut prices across its popular asthma inhaler portfolio. Prices for Advair Diskus 500/50 will fall from $265 to $89 for patients purchasing directly through TrumpRx.
GSK’s CEO Emma Walmsley said: “Through this agreement, GSK will ensure patients have access to the current portfolio of respiratory medicines while bringing the next wave of innovation to American patients.”
Along with agreeing to cost savings on drugs, the latest batch of drugmakers have also collectively outlaid $150bn to bolster manufacturing in the US. Onshoring of drug manufacturing has been one of the major trends in the pharma industry this year, fuelled by Trump’s policies. GSK and Sanofi, for example, have already announced plans to invest $30bn and $20bn, respectively, in the country.
GSK, BMS, and MSD, known as Merck in the US, will also donate active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for key products to the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve (SAPIR). APIs set to be added to the reserve include inhalers, blood thinners, and antibacterials. In August, Trump ordered the bolstering of the country’s SAPIR with important drugs, aligning with his wider ambition to reduce reliance on imported pharmaceutical products. The White House says the three pharma companies’ donations help “reduce the reliance on foreign nations”.
In July, Trump sent letters to the CEOs of 17 pharma companies, pressuring them to meet MFN demands amid a tariff imposition ultimatum. Pfizer became the first to publicly announce an agreement in September, with AstraZeneca following soon after in October. In November, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk reached agreements with the White House, a significant moment given that it saw the prices for popular weight loss medications slashed.
Securing the latest and to date, largest batch of drugmakers, therefore, is a significant win for the Trump administration in fulfilling its policies.
Reacting to the latest deals, William Blair analyst Matt Phipps said: “This now leaves three biopharma companies out of the original 17 targeted by President Trump as not having come to an agreement with the administration, AbbVie, Regeneron, and Johnson & Johnson.”
