Trump Reveals 9 More Drug-Pricing Deals as Admin Expands Most-Favored-Nation Strategy

President Donald Trump has announced nine additional agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers as his administration expands its effort to bring American prescription costs in line with lower prices available in other developed countries.

The agreements, announced August 31, form part of Trump’s most-favored-nation pricing strategy, which seeks to end the practice of Americans paying substantially more for the same medicines sold overseas.

The nine participating companies are Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and UCB.

According to the White House, the latest additions bring 26 drug manufacturers under most-favored-nation arrangements. Collectively, those companies account for approximately 89% of the branded prescription-drug market.

Trump described the expansion as another major step toward relieving American families of inflated pharmaceutical expenses.

“American drug prices will come down fast and furious,” Trump said, predicting significant reductions beginning next year.

Administration economists project that the agreements could generate more than $600 billion in savings for Americans.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that the savings could reach approximately $600 billion over the next decade.

Reuters cautioned that the figure remains a projection because many pricing provisions and complete contractual terms have not been made public.

Under the agreements, every state Medicaid program would receive access to most-favored-nation pricing for drugs produced by participating manufacturers.

Medicaid already obtains significant mandatory rebates from pharmaceutical companies, and beneficiaries typically face limited out-of-pocket prescription expenses. The wider fiscal impact will therefore depend heavily on the specific medicines covered and the discounts negotiated.

Reuters reported that the precise price reductions, eligible drugs and expected savings for individual patients remain uncertain because the administration has not released the complete agreements.

The White House says the arrangements cover treatments for serious conditions including Parkinson’s disease, hemophilia, glaucoma, macular degeneration, liver disease, skin disorders and cancer.

Trump described the Medicaid provisions as “a tremendous discount,” arguing that lower government spending on medicines should help reduce broader health-care costs.

Participating manufacturers also agreed to offer most-favored-nation pricing for certain innovative medicines they introduce in the United States.

Beyond pricing concessions, the nine companies committed at least $19.6 billion toward near-term pharmaceutical manufacturing investments on American soil.

The White House says the investment will strengthen domestic production, reinforce medical supply chains and reduce America’s reliance on foreign manufacturers for essential drugs.

Several companies also pledged active pharmaceutical ingredients for the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve, providing the initiative with an additional national-security dimension.

UCB committed levetiracetam, while Sun Pharma pledged clindamycin and doxycycline—ingredients used in widely prescribed medications.

Building an emergency reserve of critical pharmaceutical components could help protect Americans from shortages caused by geopolitical conflict, pandemics or disruptions to overseas manufacturing.

Reuters has reported that prescription medicines in the United States frequently cost nearly three times as much as comparable drugs in other developed nations.

Trump began the current most-favored-nation initiative with a May 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to pursue international price alignment.

In July 2025, the president sent letters to 17 leading pharmaceutical companies outlining requested price reductions and other commitments.

Those companies subsequently reached agreements with the administration, including industry giants Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

Previous deals provided lower prices for federal health programs and direct-to-patient discounts through the TrumpRx website.

The White House says consumers have saved more than $700 million through TrumpRx since the platform launched in February.

Administration officials also highlighted a pilot program allowing certain seniors who lack GLP-1 coverage to obtain obesity medication for $50 per month.

According to the White House, more than 500,000 seniors saved a combined $216 million during the program’s first two months.

Reuters reported that earlier agreements resulted in substantial announced price reductions for weight-loss drugs manufactured by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

The latest round expands Trump’s strategy beyond the industry’s largest corporations to include midsize pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Some smaller manufacturers previously saw fewer financial incentives to participate, contributing to slower adoption, according to Reuters.

Teva, however, separately said it remained in negotiations even though the White House included the company among the nine participating manufacturers.

Critics continue to question whether the agreements will broadly lower consumers’ out-of-pocket costs without greater transparency about eligible medications and pricing formulas.

Public Citizen’s Peter Maybarduk dismissed the latest deals as “a distraction,” arguing that they fall short of genuine international price alignment.

The Trump administration points to Medicaid savings, direct TrumpRx discounts, new American manufacturing investments and contributions to the pharmaceutical reserve as evidence that the initiative is already producing tangible benefits.

The ultimate effect on individual patients will depend on which medicines are included, how the discounts are administered and whether lower negotiated prices translate into smaller bills at the pharmacy counter.

Likewise, the $19.6 billion domestic manufacturing commitment could meaningfully increase American pharmaceutical capacity, although investment schedules and project details will vary among the companies.

The initiative brings together several major priorities: reducing prescription costs, controlling Medicaid spending, providing direct purchasing discounts, rebuilding domestic manufacturing and securing the nation’s supply of essential medicines.