President Trump Adds Nine Pharma Companies To Most-Favored-Nation Medicaid Pricing Deals
Updated
President Donald Trump announced a deal with nine additional pharmaceutical manufacturers to offer most-favored-nation pricing for Medicaid drugs and for new drugs they launch in the United States. The new deal with mid-sized pharma companies includes Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB.
The companies will offer MFN pricing to State Medicaid programs, providing billions of dollars in savings, according to the White House statement. The agreement prevents foreign nations from using price controls “to free-ride on American innovation,” according to the announcement.
“For decades, Americans paid the highest drug prices anywhere in the world, by far,” President Trump said. “It wasn’t even close. We were ripped off by the pharmaceutical companies. We were ripped off, more than anything, by other countries in the world.” He added that the new agreements provide “the largest drug discount, the largest price reductions in the history of medicine.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared with President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz for the announcement. Kennedy said nine out of every 10 drugs prescribed in the US are covered by the agreements. He told reporters that President Trump put him and Dr. Oz at risk of being fired if they didn’t succeed in lowering drug prices.
As part of the agreement, the pharma companies will provide at least $19.6 billion in near-term US manufacturing investment and donations of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve. UCB pledged 163 tons of the anticonvulsant levetiracetam; Sun Pharma 71.4 tons of clindamycin and 6.75 tons of doxycycline; Teva 45 metric tons of metronidazole and 4.8 tons of amlodipine; and Astellas 25 kilograms of the transplant drug tacrolimus.
In May 2025, President Trump signed an executive order on MFN pricing; in July 2025, 17 letters were sent to large manufacturers, and the first Pfizer deal was signed in September 2025. Agreements with other large pharma companies followed, and TrumpRx launched in February 2026. The Council of Economic Advisers estimates $600 billion in savings over a decade from the full set of MFN deals. The administration says patients have saved about $700 million since TrumpRx launched.
The deals between the pharmaceutical companies and the administration are voluntary, and the specific details haven’t been disclosed. During an April 22 Senate hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren confronted Secretary Kennedy about the nature of the pharmaceutical deals and asked him to release the details. Secretary Kennedy said he would be happy to provide the details with the exception of proprietary information.
During that exchange, Senator Warren suggested that President Trump and Secretary Kennedy are giving “sweetheart deals” to the pharmaceutical companies and charging exorbitant amounts for drugs on the TrumpRx platform. She referenced several drugs and compared the brand name cost on TrumpRx versus the generic drug price at Costco. Warren said the heartburn medication Protonix is $200 on TrumpRx, but only $16 at Costco.
Secretary Kennedy said she is comparing apples to oranges by comparing brand-name drug prices with generic prices. Kennedy explained that the administration will direct people to the generic drug options when possible, but many people are specifically prescribed the brand-name medications from their doctors. On the Protonix page of TrumpRx, it lists the original price of $447.28 with a $247.18 discount and a $200.10 total. Right below that calculation, it states “We found a better price” and directs consumers to a generic drug option at $11.32 and directs consumers to other websites that offer the cheaper generic drug option.
Senator Warren said she would hold Secretary Kennedy to the statement that he would disclose the terms of the deals. Warren said, “If these deals with big pharma are so great for Americans, then we should be able to see what promises have been made.” Kennedy responded, “You have the power to make this deal yourself. We did this because you refused to do it.” The terms of the deals have still not been disclosed.
President Trump and the White House released a fact sheet in January 2026 for the Great Healthcare Plan that would codify the MFN pricing to ensure the deals continue even after President Trump leaves office. The current negotiated deals are voluntary. The White House fact sheet from Monday’s announcement once again emphasizes the importance of passing this legislation, which also includes provisions to make more drugs available over the counter, which the White House says would cut doctor-visit and middleman costs, plus price transparency and insurance reform.