Company to sell some medicines at a discount to US’s Medicaid health plan in exchange for tariff relief
Donald Trump announced a deal with the British-based drugmaker AstraZeneca for a “most-favored-nation” drug-pricing model aimed at making prescription medicines more affordable and avoiding the administration’s tariff threats.
The company will sell some medicines at a discount to the government’s Medicaid health plan in exchange for tariff relief, similar to a drug-pricing pact reached last week with Pfizer.
Trump began the Oval Office announcement on Friday evening by boasting that he would have struck the deal sooner, but “we were interrupted by a rigged election”. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who was in attendance, said that during tough negotiations to reach a deal, Trump and his team of officials had “really kept me up at night”.
The deals set a framework the White House will use to try to reach its goal of lowering US prescription medicine prices. The president sent letters to 17 leading drugmakers in July telling them to slash prices. Pfizer and AstraZeneca are the first two companies to reach a deal with the administration.
