Trump to announce new drug pricing deals with drugmakers: Report

Key Points:

• Nearly a dozen drugmakers are expected to sign deals with President Trump to voluntarily lower medication prices, continuing his effort to link U.S. drug prices to cheaper international rates.
• These new agreements aim to provide discounts on outpatient drugs to state Medicaid programs, aligning U.S. prices with those charged abroad, while exempting companies from similar Medicare pilot programs.
• The Trump administration has previously made deals with 17 pharmaceutical companies under the "most favored nation" policy, which seeks to end "global freeloading" by raising prices overseas and lowering them domestically.
• Drugmakers are responding by investing heavily in U.S. manufacturing and expanding direct-to-consumer sales channels, as lower prices in the U.S. impact their revenue and commercial strategies.
• U.S. prescription drug prices remain significantly higher than in other countries, with branded drugs costing over four times as much on average, while industry groups argue that pricing reforms like the most-favored nation approach are not the optimal solution.