Today's Edition
NEW YORK (AFP)
US President Donald Trump announced a deal with AstraZeneca on Friday that he said would lead to significantly lower domestic drug prices in exchange for granting the pharma giant tariff relief.
The agreement, which follows a similar accord announced last month with US giant Pfizer, requires AstraZeneca to charge "Most Favoured Nation" pricing -- matching the lowest price offered in other wealthy nations -- to Medicaid, the US health insurance programme for low-income Americans.
Officials also said the British drugmaker had agreed to participate in a website called TrumpRx that would allow direct purchasing at reduced prices.
Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the drugmaker would also provide "massively" discounted drugs for lung disease.
In exchange, Trump administration officials agreed to a three-year delay on new tariffs on AstraZeneca, which had previously announced plans to invest $50 billion in the United States in response to looming tariff threats.
"Most of our products are locally manufactured, but we need to transfer the remaining part to this country," said AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot, who appeared with Trump, Oz, and other officials at a White House event early Friday night.
The agreement comes on the heels of a September 30 drug price accord with Pfizer that also included three-year tariff relief.
The White House announcement on Pfizer did not detail all of the drugs expected to see price cuts, but shares of Pfizer and other drugmakers surged after the September 30 announcement.
