AstraZeneca has reached a deal with the Trump administration to lower prescription drug prices in exchange for tariff relief, becoming the second major pharmaceutical company after Pfizer to agree to the White House’s new drug-pricing framework.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will offer discounted prices for certain medicines through Medicaid, the U.S. government’s health plan for low-income Americans. The company also agreed to match the lowest prices offered for the same drugs in other developed countries, a “most-favored-nation” pricing model.
“For many years, Americans have paid the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Trump said during an Oval Office announcement on Friday. “This deal will bring those prices down to the lowest anywhere in the world.”
The president claimed the policy could slash prices by “up to 1,000%,” a statement health economists immediately called nonsensical. “Cutting prices by more than 100% would mean people are being paid to take their medicine,” said Timothy McBride, a health economist at Washington University.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, present at the announcement, said the negotiations “really kept me up at night.” Trump added that tariff threats had played a key role in securing the deal.
The White House recently sent letters to 17 drugmakers demanding price cuts or face 100% import tariffs. Pfizer and AstraZeneca are the first to comply.
Experts said the impact of the AstraZeneca deal could be modest. Medicaid already receives the lowest prices in the U.S., and AstraZeneca’s portfolio may not require large additional discounts. “It’s good for the companies,” said Rena Conti of Boston University, “but has very uncertain, if any, benefit for Americans struggling with drug affordability.”
