Today is the deadline for drug makers to make binding commitments to align their U.S. and international drug prices according to President Trump's Most Favored Nation (MFN) plan:
Trump administration teases MFN drug pricing rule as commitment deadline looms for companies
By Angus Liu - September 26, 2025The Trump administration is hinting at an upcoming rule aimed at implementing the President’s “most favored nation” drug pricing policy.
The proposed policy is titled “global benchmark for efficient drug pricing (GLOBE) model” and falls under the Department of Health and Human Services and its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services subagency, according to a government posting.
No details were given beyond the title. Two unnamed lobbyists reportedly told Reuters that they expect the rule to echo Trump’s previous MFN executive order signed during his first term.
The 2020 model was focused on reducing the price of 50 high-cost drugs covered under Medicare Part B to match the lowest price paid by a group of peer countries—that policy was blocked by courts for procedural reasons.
The teasing of the new rule comes as the Sept. 29 deadline for drugmakers to make binding commitments to align U.S. and international drug prices draws near. Trump presented the timeline in letters sent to 17 pharma CEOs in late July following an executive order on the issue in May.
Trump’s July letters called for the companies to offer MFN prices to “every single Medicaid patient.” The President has also demanded that companies “guarantee Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers receive MFN prices on all new drugs.”
Drugmakers have rolled out programs offering some of their meds directly to U.S. consumers at cheaper prices in anticipation of a pricing crackdown from the Trump administration. Bristol Myers Squibb just announced a plan to offer its plaque psoriasis oral med Sotyktu at a whopping 86% discount from its list price through the company’s direct-to-patient platform.
At the same time, the New Jersey pharma said it plans to charge its novel schizophrenia treatment, Cobenfy, in the U.K. at the same list price as in the U.S.
AstraZeneca unveiled its own direct-to-patient initiative on Friday, offering 70% and 51% discounts on its SGLT2 inhibitor Farxiga and asthma med Airsupra, respectively.
“[W]e should expect to see additional companies offer these programs to further appease the current administration,” analysts with William Blair said.
President Trump and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, will hold a dog and pony show at The White House this afternoon:
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/shares-pfizer-sprint-higher-trump-announce-drug-pricing-deal
Shares In Pfizer Sprint Higher As Trump To Announce Drug-Pricing Deal
By Tyler Durden - September 30, 2025Shares of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer sprinted higher in early trade Tuesday after reports that later today, President Trump and CEO Albert Bourla, will announce that the company will sell drugs at lower prices to the US Medicaid insurance program as part of a deal to advance the Trump administration's "most favored nations" agenda.
The program is an effort to link US drug prices to the lowest cost of drugs paid by the wealthiest countries - and is linked to a May executive order that laid out the initiative, WaPo reports. Administration officials have been in negotiations with big pharma to get them to voluntarily lower their prices, which had a Monday deadline.
Bourla is also expected to announce a $70 billion investment on manufacturing medications in the USA, according to Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose and a White House official.
"It’s a win for American patients, a win for American leadership, and it’s a win for Pfizer because it provides the certainty and stability we need to continue advancing new breakthrough medicines for patients," Rose said in a statement.
The move coincides with a direct-to-consumer website for Americans to buy drugs, dubbed TrumpRX - which would allow people to pay cash for certain drugs directly from a government website at a discounted price negotiated by the government.
"We pay much higher for drugs than the rest of the world. We subsidize the rest of the world," Trump said last week. "We’re not doing that anymore and that’s a big thing."
Trump has long argued that the United States government spends too much on medications and pursued a similar drug-pricing plan during his first term. His administration has sought to pressure the pharmaceutical industry through a mix of tariffs and new initiatives, such as several pilot programs being developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that could impose new drug-pricing controls in the Medicare program, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail those pilot programs. -WaPo
And according to the Wall Street Journal, other companies are expected to follow suit.
"President Trump is leveraging the power of the federal government to drastically cut drug prices for everyday Americans," said White House spokesman Kush Desai. "Democrats talked the talk for decades about drug prices, but only President Trump is actually walking the walk."
The pharmaceutical industry has sought to make concessions - with their main lobbying group - the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on Monday announcing a series of voluntary steps to support Trump's goals.
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