Nathan Howard | Reuters
The deal with AstraZeneca follows a similar pact with U.S. drugmaker Pfizer, which was announced late last month.
AstraZeneca will agree to sell drugs directly to Medicaid patients at the lowest price offered in other developed countries, or what Trump calls “most-favored nation” pricing, on a coming government website called TrumpRx.gov. AstraZeneca’s primary care medications will be available on the site starting early next year, and the company will offer new prescription medications at most-favored nation pricing, said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot also said the company will be exempt from pharmaceutical sector tariffs as part of the agreement. Pfizer agreed to similar terms with the Trump administration and received a three-year carveout from pharmaceutical tariffs on the condition that it continued to invest in U.S. manufacturing.
AstraZeneca in July said it would invest $50 billion in the U.S. by 2030. The company announced further details about those plans Friday ahead of the reported pricing deal announcement.
President Donald Trump, administration officials and Soriot announced the agreement during a White House event on Friday.
MSNBC earlier reported on the deal.
Trump has pushed drugmakers to cut prices and build out manufacturing in the U.S., as sky-high costs for medicines relative to other developed countries irk voters across the political spectrum. As his administration threatened pharmaceutical companies with tariffs as high as 250% in recent months, many drugmakers announced significant investments in the U.S.
Trump has said he aims to strike pricing deals with other major drugmakers in the weeks ahead. Trump suggested drugmakers and other companies have invested as much as they did because of the threat of higher tariff costs.
“Most of them are here because of tariffs,” he said.
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