President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his administration has reached a deal with Pfizer for it to "voluntarily sell its drugs at lower prices to Medicaid patients". The deal is part of Trump’s broader effort to implement a “most favored nation” pricing model for prescription drugs.
The White House unveiled plans for a new website that "will allow Americans to buy prescription drugs directly from their manufacturers", potentially "lowering out-of-pocket costs”, though details remain murky. President Trump announced the planned “TrumpRx” website, "due to launch in early 2026," alongside Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the Oval Office.
As part of the deal, Trump said, Pfizer will sell some of its drugs on a "new 'direct to consumer' website called 'TrumpRx'". The government "will not sell medications on the website but will direct patients to manufacturers’ own direct to consumer sites". A senior administration official said the site "will be open to all Americans”.
"Pfizer is committing to offer all of their prescription medications to Medicaid, and it will be at the most favored nation prices," the president said moments later. Most favored nation (MFN) prices are calculated by taking "US consumer prices and comparing them against eight other wealthy countries”.
The agreement covers "a large majority" of Pfizer's primary care medicines, along with speciality brand-name drugs, which will be offered at discounts "averaging 50% and reaching as high as 85%". Specific savings include the menopause drug Duavee, which will be available for "as little as $30 — an 85% reduction". Its skin ointment Eucrisa will see an "80% cut to $162". Medicare Director Chris Klomp claimed that some drug prices on TrumpRx "may be 80% lower than they are currently”.
The deal Pfizer cut with the White House will give the company a "three-year grace period on Trump’s planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals made abroad, which are expected to take effect Wednesday".
Pfizer additionally committed Tuesday to invest "$70 billion in bringing manufacturing facilities back into the US, as well as research and development". Bourla said that "the president is absolutely right, tariffs is the most powerful tool to motivate behaviors”.
President Trump declared, "This is a really big announcement", and "Never has a president stood up so bravely for the American people with respect to health care," added Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. Kennedy joked that the president "harangued and harassed us" to finish the deal.
However, the announcement drew skepticism from health policy experts. Drew Altman, the president and CEO of KFF, noted the deal "only applies 'to one company and one program'".
Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor, warned that direct to consumer sales "are not going to help the average person at all with achieving lower costs". Altman pointed out that "Most Americans buy drugs through their insurance plan, so that would mainly help the uninsured". Dusetzina suggested these announcements "serve as good PR for the drug companies but are more of a gimmick that only help a very small number of people”.
For a drug like Xeljanz, 87% of Americans with commercial insurance, "100% of Medicaid users, and 78% of seniors with Medicare Part D already have a copay of between $0 and $20". Dusetzina also warned that the average American "is likely to be harmed by the broader policies pushed by the Administration, including a 100% tariff on drugs”.
Trump said moving forward, "all new drugs introduced by Pfizer to the U.S. market will be sold at the lower prices”.
While the details still remain unclear, the plan could be good news for Americans who buy drugs outside of insurance plans.