Trump inks deal with 9 pharmaceutical companies to lower drug costs

President Trump said Monday that his administration has signed agreements with nine additional pharmaceutical firms as part of an ongoing effort to lower consumer drug prices.

"In total, these agreements are projected to save Americans more than $600 billion over a very short period of time," Mr. Trump said during an announcement at the Oval Office.

Last July, Mr. Trump sent letters to 17 leading pharmaceutical firms asking them to voluntarily lower their prescription drug prices. Earlier this year, the administration also launched TrumpRx, a website where Americans can get discounts on name-brand medications, including GLP-1 drugs, inhalers and antibiotics. 

"With today's announcement, we now have 26 companies representing 90% of the domestic pharmaceutical market, and the other 10% are also coming in," Mr. Trump said. "They have no choice."

The nine new firms that have agreed to offer consumer discounts are midsize pharmaceutical firms, according to a White House fact sheet. They include Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and UCB. 

The White House said the companies will provide access to their drugs to every state Medicaid program in the U.S., "resulting in billions of dollars in savings for Americans." 

The companies have also committed to spending $19.6 billion on manufacturing, according to the Trump administration.

Edited by Alain Sherter

Are the Trump administration's efforts to lower drug costs working?