Trump to sign drug pricing executive order, promises 59 cut

 


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on prescription drug pricing on Monday that aims to align the United States with what other countries pay, a move he said on social media would be a cut of 59%.

His new estimate followed comments he made on Sunday, when he said on social media that he would sign the order pursuing "most favored nation" pricing, resulting in cuts of 30% to 80%.

He is scheduled to hold an event at the White House with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). Trump has not provided details of his plans.

The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed nations. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts.

Drugmakers have been expecting an order focusing on the federal Medicare health insurance program for people aged 65 and older and the disabled, according to four drug industry lobbyists who said they had been briefed by the White House.

Reuters previously reported that such a policy was under consideration.

"Drug prices to be cut by 59%" Trump wrote in capital letters on his social media platform.

Global pharmaceutical shares traded lower and shares of U.S. drugmakers fell between 2% and 3% following his weekend comments.

Unlike most countries that negotiate with companies the prices paid for medicines, the United States has limited direct negotiating and has relied on private pharmacy benefit managers to negotiate prices in insurance plans.

Former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act allowed the government to start negotiating the price of its costliest drugs.

Still, the prices for the first 10 prescription drugs it negotiated were on average more than double, and in some cases five times, what drugmakers had agreed to in four other high-income countries, Reuters previously reported.

For instance, top-selling blood thinner Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb carries a U.S. list price of $606 for a month's supply. Biden's government negotiated that down to $295 for Medicare, which will be applied from 2026, but the drug costs $114 in Sweden and just $20 in Japan.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Louise Heavens, Caroline Humer and Mark Porter)