AbbVie has become one of a swathe of big pharma companies to sign a drug pricing agreement with the Trump administration under its Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy, while committing $100bn to its US R&D footprint over the next decade.
By shaking hands with Trump, AbbVie has voluntarily agreed to offer certain medications across its immunology, ophthalmology and metabolic health portfolios at reduced prices through Medicaid and the direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform, TrumpRx.gov. In exchange, the White House will grant AbbVie an exemption from 100% branded pharmaceutical import tariffs.
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Through the agreement, AbbVie will now offer its once best-selling tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) blocker, Humira (adalimumab) at a discounted rate to cash-paying patients. Humira is now subject to biosimilar erosion following the breakdown of its ‘patent thicket’ at the beginning of 2023, though GlobalData, parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology, previously noted that AbbVie’s strong immunology portfolio will offset these associated losses.
AbbVie will also offer eye drops Combigan (brimonidine/timolol) and Alphagan (brimonidine) through TrumpRx.gov, as well as its thyroid hormone replacement therapy, Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium).
According to AbbVie’s chair and CEO, Robert Michael, the company’s deal with the Trump administration will allow it to “collectively move beyond policies that harm American innovation”.
AbbVie joins list of pharma MFN dealmakers
AbbVie is now the 16th big pharma company to agree a deal with the White House between late 2025 and early 2026, closely following Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and nine others. All of these companies were in the group of 17 which were previously called on by Trump to reduce drug prices.
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By GlobalDataNow, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is the only company in this cohort that is yet to strike a deal with the White House, though it claims to be in the negotiation stage.
Alongside the signing of an MFN deal, AbbVie has also committed to the further expansion of its R&D footprint, pledging $100bn in the US to this cause over the next 10 years. This includes both R&D and capital investments, which will include manufacturing.
It appears that AbbVie has kicked off the year with momentum, as the MFN and $100bn R&D pledge closely follows its deal announcement with RemeGen. This saw the US pharma hand over up to $5.6bn for the exclusive global rights to its programmed death ligand 1 (PD-1) vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) bispecific, RC148, outside of China.
