AstraZeneca has launched an online direct-to-consumer (DTC) medicine platform in the US, joining a growing list of companies opting for the model in a bid to cut drug prices amid pressure from President Donald Trump.
The launch of the AstraZeneca Direct platform will allow AstraZeneca to sell diabetes and asthma drugs directly to cash-paying patients in the US at a step discount of up to 70% off list prices.
Starting from 1 October 2025, eligible patients will be able to directly purchase Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide) or Farxiga (dapaglifozin) from the UK drugmaker’s DTC pharmacy. Patients will also be able to order the Flumist influenza nasal spray vaccine for home delivery via AstraZeneca Direct.
Asthma medication Airsupra’s list price is $489.25 per inhaler, although AstraZeneca capped the monthly cost for inhaled respiratory medicines at $35 from June 2025. Chronic kidney disease treatment Farxiga costs $599.72 for a month’s supply. Farxiga is one of AstraZeneca's top-selling products, generating $7.7bn in global sales in 2024 – translating to about 14% of the company’s total revenue. Airsupra, meanwhile, made $66m last year.
AstraZeneca’s US president Joris Silon said: "We remain deeply committed to improving accessibility, affordability, and driving innovation in healthcare, and we are excited to launch AstraZeneca Direct, which will give patients a transparent cash price with the convenience of home delivery.
“The programme complements our existing patient support services and is an important step forward in offering patients the medication they need, when and how they need it."
The platform launch by the drugmaker is set against a backdrop of changing drug prices in the US amid pressure from President Trump.
In May 2025, the White House said that it would “facilitate direct-to-consumer purchasing programmes for pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell their products to American patients at the most-favoured-nation (MFN) price”.
Trump’s MFN model aims to cut drug prices in the US such that they match the lowest prices in other developed countries. In August, he sent a letter to leading pharmaceutical manufacturers calling on them to take steps to slash prices of products.
AstraZeneca’s platform launch comes just a day after Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) expanded its DTC offerings to include autoimmune drug Sotyktu (deucravacitinib). BMS will offer Sotyktu to eligible, cash-paying patients for more than 80% cheaper than the drug’s current list price.
Novo Nordisk introduced a direct-to-patient delivery option for its flagship weight loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide) in the US, slashing the price of the drug for cash-paying patients without insurance coverage. Through NovoCare Pharmacy, the drugmaker slashed the cost for all doses of its glucagon-like peptide-receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) to $499 per month, a hefty discount to the current list price of $1,349. Exorbitant weight loss drug prices in the country were called out by Trump in a meeting at the White House earlier in the year.
For AstraZeneca, the platform launch in the US comes amid uncertainty in the wider industry. The company is one of several UK-based drugmakers dealing with a new pharmaceutical product tariff rate imposed by Trump on 26 September. This also comes in the same week that international bank HSBC dethroned AstraZeneca as the UK’s most valuable listed company.
