Washington, April 24 (IANS). US President Donald Trump announced sweeping agreements with major pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, calling it “the largest reduction in drug prices in the history of our country.”
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Regeneron, one of the leading companies, had agreed to provide the drugs at “most favored nation” prices. “Prices will fall to levels never seen before,” he said.
“With this announcement, the world’s 17 largest pharmaceutical companies, representing 80 percent of the branded drugs market, have now agreed to sell their drugs to American patients at the lowest prices found anywhere in the world,” he said.
Trump argued that Americans have been paying excessive prices for a long time. “For decades, Americans have been forced to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” he said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supported the move, calling it action against long-standing “looting.” He said the United States, which has “4.2 percent of the world’s population”, has been the source of “75 percent of the profits” of the pharmaceutical industry.
Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the main objective of this policy is to make drugs cheaper. “One out of every three Americans… often returns home without taking their medications because they can’t afford them,” he said.
The administration also cited certain price reductions, including the price of a cholesterol drug “dropping from $537 to $225” and the price of a weight loss drug “dropping from $1,350 per month to $199 per month.”
Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer said the company supports global price balancing efforts. “We were not forced to come here. We are happy to come here because this is an important step towards reducing drug prices,” he said.
The company also announced gene therapy for a rare form of deafness, which will be provided free to eligible children for a period of time. George Yancopoulos described the treatment as “the first gene therapy of its kind… allowing Travis to now hear his mother’s voice.”
Sierra Smith, whose two-year-old son received the therapy, described the results as “absolutely amazing” and said, “Now he can hear… it’s life-changing.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick said this policy is also related to domestic manufacturing. “This means $448 billion worth of drug manufacturing will come to America,” he said.
The White House said these agreements now cover about 86 percent of the branded pharmaceutical market and further negotiations are underway.
–IANS
PM
