The US is the only country among other developed nations that pays the highest amount on medical bills, often nearly three times more. Trump has been pushing drugmakers to lower the prices of medicines or face stiff tariffs
Drugmaker AztraZeneca has signed a deal with the US government to lower the prices of some medicines in the country, in a way to evade US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on pharma companies.
Under the deal, announced by Trump on Friday, 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.
Both deals with the US’s biggest drugmakers are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to lower prescription medicine prices. The president sent letters to 17 leading drugmakers in July telling them to slash prices. Pfizer and Astra are the first two companies to reach a deal with the administration.
US pays the highest for meds
The US is the only country among other developed nations that pays the highest amount on medical bills, often nearly three times more. Trump has been pushing drugmakers to lower the prices of medicines or face stiff tariffs.
Last month, Trump threatened 100 per cent tariffs, ratcheting up pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to agree to price cuts and shift manufacturing to the US, after negotiations broke down earlier this year, lobbyists and executives toldReuters following the Pfizer deal.
More than 70 million people are covered by Medicaid, the state and federal government program for low-income people. Drug spending in that program is dwarfed by that of Medicare, which covers people aged 65 and older or those with disabilities and is not included in Friday’s announcement.
The deal with Pfizer
On Tuesday, Trump revealed a multi-pronged deal with Pfizer. The New York-based pharma giant agreed to invest $70 billion to boost its pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in the US and to participate in a direct purchasing platform called “TrumpRx.gov,” where it will offer a discount on a “large majority” of its primary care treatments and “some select speciality brands.”
In exchange for this, Pfizer will get a three-year pause on the forthcoming pharmaceutical tariffs. The president said on Tuesday that he sees the deal as a model for the drug companies, insisting that he expects similar announcements over the next week. However, he threatened to impose tariffs on pharma companies that don’t come to the table.
With inputs from agencies
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