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Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will offer discounted prices for several prescription drugs to U.S. patients under a new agreement with the Trump administration, President Donald Trump announced Friday.
The deal marks the second major agreement between the White House and a drugmaker in recent weeks, following a similar move by Pfizer. Under the plan, AstraZeneca will provide its medications to Medicaid patients at “most-favored-nation” prices — meaning the company will not charge more than the lowest rates offered in other high-income countries, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said during an Oval Office event.
AstraZeneca also pledged to offer future prescription drugs at the same reduced rates and to list “all primary care medications” on a forthcoming federal website called TrumpRx. The company said it will provide discounts of up to 80% for “eligible patients with prescriptions for chronic diseases.”
Oz said TrumpRx, which is expected to launch early next year, will not sell drugs directly but will instead guide consumers to lower-cost options. AstraZeneca said patients will also be able to buy drugs directly from the company at a “reduced cash price.”
The announcement comes as the Trump administration increases pressure on major pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily lower drug prices for Medicaid patients or face stricter regulation. Trump has also threatened to impose 100% tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals unless companies expand U.S.-based manufacturing. On Friday, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest in new domestic research and production facilities.
Despite the political momentum, health experts caution that the impact of these deals may be limited. Medicaid already enjoys a statutory “best price” protection, which guarantees it pays no more than the lowest price offered to any U.S. commercial payer.
“Medicaid already receives the lowest prices charged to any commercial payer in the United States,” said Darius Lakdawalla, chief scientific officer at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center, in comments to CBS News. “We are starting out at prices well below the averages seen in the U.S. market.”
The TrumpRx platform could help some uninsured or high-deductible patients, analysts say, though most Americans receive medications through insurance.
“The direct-to-patient stuff is, in my view, a sideshow and branding opportunity for Trump,” said Sean Sullivan, a health economist at the University of Washington, referring to the earlier Pfizer deal. “Most patients have drug coverage. Very few are going to buy medications with cash.”
