Trump Now Has 14 Drug Manufacturers on His Side

President Trump doubled down on his "affordability" narrative by unveiling his biggest batch yet of drug-pricing deals—even as questions loom about how much they'll actually shave off Americans' pharmacy bills. At the White House on Friday, Trump announced agreements with nine major pharmaceutical companies—Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi—meaning 14 drugmakers have now pledged to lower certain US prices and ramp up manufacturing in the US. CNN reports Trump also said he planned to assemble health insurers in the coming weeks to lobby for lower premiums.

The companies are agreeing to peg many of the drug prices Medicaid patients pay to a "most-favored nations" (MFN) benchmark based on what affluent countries like Germany and Japan pay. In return for that and the manufacturing investment, they'll sidestep Trump's planned pharmaceutical tariffs for three years. Some takes:

• From Politico: "But it is unclear how quickly the new deals will have a tangible impact on out-of-pocket drug costs for most Americans. Many of the deal provisions that aim to stem the price of new drug launches in the U.S. will take years to kick in—and questions remain about the durability of the agreements once Trump leaves office."
• The AP speaks with USC pharmaceutical and health economics professor William Padula, who notes Medicaid already has the most favorable drug rates, which in some cases largely already sync with the MFN price. "It can't be bad," he says of the deals. "I don't see much downside, but it's hard to judge what the upside is."
• But CNBC has one concrete change it sees as beneficial: "Among the most notable pledges ... is that Bristol Myers Squibb will offer Eliquis, its blockbuster blood thinner and top-prescribed product, for free to Medicaid."

Trump in July sent letters to 17 top drug manufacturers demanding that they cut their drug prices in the US; CNBC reports Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, and Regeneron are the three that have yet to ink deals.