UPDATE: President Trump Announces Major Deal with Drugmaker AstraZeneca, Including $50 BILLION Investment
President Trump on Friday announced another deal with UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to lower drug costs for Americans on Medicaid.
The drug manufacturer will now sell prescription drugs to patients at Most Favored Nations prices through TrumpRx.gov.
This comes after the President struck a deal with Pfizer to also provide Americans with heavily discounted prescription drugs at most-favored-nation prices.
Trump made the announcement on AstraZeneca in the Oval Office on Friday, where he touted his efforts to lower drug costs during his first term and announced Most Favored Nations pricing from “the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the United Kingdom.”
“I had it going very well in my first term, but we were interrupted by rigged elections, so I was unable to carry it forward,” the President noted.
Trump also highlighted AstraZeneca’s plans to build a new plant in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they broke ground on Thursday, investing $50 billion in U.S. manufactuting, he said. “It’s going to have 3,600 jobs just to begin with, and that’s going to be a fantastic plant,” Trump said.
Trump delivered remarks on the new deal and AstraZeneca’s manufacturing plans in America for nearly seven minutes before taking questions from the press. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, CMS Administrator, Mehmet Oz, FDA commissioner Marty McCary, and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin joined the President and delivered remarks.
WATCH:
Trump: Today, I’m excited to announce another historic achievement in our quest to lower drug prices for all Americans. You know, prices have come way down. We’ve gotten prices way down for groceries, for oil, especially today, we broke $60/a barrel. We think the oil is going to be under $2 a gallon very soon. That’s about 70% lower than what it was just a year ago. So, that’s a big thing. And when the oil comes down, everything comes down. It’s pretty beautiful to watch. AstraZeneca, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the United Kingdom, is committing to offer Americans major discounts on their vast catalog of prescription drugs, one of the great companies by the way, and a most favored nation’s pricing clause. So, most favored nation is ‘reyou going to pay whatever the lowest price anywhere in the world is; that’s what you’re going to be paying.
And I was, I had it going very well in my first term, but we were interrupted by rigged elections, so I was unable to carry it forward. We started it, but this was something I— one of the reasons I wanted to run again was we had to have favored nations, where the world is not going to be paying just a fraction, just a tiny fraction, of what we were paying. I want to thank CEO Pascal Soriot, very highly respected, one of the most respected men in business and certainly in the industry, for joining us today, as well as Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CMS Administrator, Mehmet Oz, FDA commissioner Marty McCary, and Virginia Governor— a man who’s done an incredible job and good luck with the upcoming election. I know you’re working very hard. I watch you, you’re right there. He’s out there working. He wants to see that young woman win, and the Attorney General, who I endorsed, etc., etc.— Glenn Youngkin. Thank you very much, Glenn, thank you for being here. For many years, Americans have paid the highest prices anywhere in the world for prescription drugs, by far, by far, many times the amount that other countries are paying. It’s ridiculous. Upon taking office, I signed an executive order to make sure that Americans pay no more for prescription medications than the lowest price for the same drug in other locations and developing nations.
Today, AstraZeneca is committing to offer all of their prescription medications to Medicaid at most favored nations prices. In other words, the lowest price anywhere in the world, that’s what we get, a move that will save American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. And I tell the story, Glenn, that in my first term, I had the honor of being the first president in 28 years to lower drug prices during the course of the year. And we actually did, and I was so proud of myself. We called a news conference, I announced it. It was 1/8 of 1%, 1/8 of 1%. Now, drug prices are going to be going down 100%, 400%, 600%, 1,000%, in some cases. But for 1/8 of a cent, Bobby, think of that, I was so proud because for 28 years, nobody had done it, and now it’s— I think back to that, I said, I shouldn’t have had that news conference. But it’s just true, I was the only one that did it, but it was not very much, and now we’re going to get, in Some cases, 1,000% reduction. This could have a huge impact on everything from Social Security to Medicare to Medicaid, anything where they’re buying any prescription drugs, it’s going to have an incredible impact. It’s going to lower itself greatly. AstraZeneca will also list many of their most popular drugs online at TrumpRX.gov, Trump, RX. I don’t know why they put the name Trump. I did not tell him to do it, but I’m honored to let him do it. That’s true actually. At heavily reduced most favored nations cost, Americans can expect discounts and, as I said, it could be, in many cases, way over 100%. And as an example, one particular drug that’s hot, very hot, 654% on inhalers, COPD and asthma, as well as certain diabetics medications. They’re going to be averaging about 654% reduction in price. You believe that one?
The Democrats will say, well, he should have gotten more. It’s crazy. In addition, all medications AstraZeneca introduces to the American market, going forward, will also be sold at these heavily discounted rates. Furthermore, AstraZeneca will invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years for research and development of new drugs and to onshore manufacturing facilities across the country, like the new plant that broke ground yesterday in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the governor attended and they had a tremendous group of people attending. It’s going to have 3,600 jobs just to begin with, and that’s going to be a fantastic plant. I saw a picture. It’s going to be the best, right? Can’t get any better. This is a tremendous victory for Virginia and for American patients and for everything, for the country. It’s an amazing company to have coming over to the United States in such a big way. That’s going to be a big part of the company. Presidents have promised for years to lower the cost of health care, but my administration is actually the first to do it and do it substantially, do it at numbers that nobody thought, even I thought, were not possible, when you think. Think of it, if you got a 1%, 2%, 5%, that’s good. You did a good job. We’re talking about 100, 200m 300, 500 700, in some cases, some big, big numbers. And the largest drug companies in the world are working with us to make this a reality. And so I look forward to being at your opening of that incredible facility. I hear something, and it’s in a great location, one of the beautiful locations.
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