Trump, AstraZeneca expected to announce price deal on pharmaceuticals

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A new deal on drug prices with pharma giant AstraZeneca is in the works.

President Donald J. Trump and top administration officials are expected to announce a deal that includes a “most-favored-nation” drug pricing model for the nation, according to MSNBC. C-SPAN reported the president will make an announcement on lowering drug prices starting at 5 p.m. today.

The move would come a day after the company, based in Cambridge, UK, announced it would invest $4.5 billion in a new manufacturing facility in Albemarle County, Virginia. The expansion would create 600 highly skilled jobs at the facility, with 3,000 workers expected to build it. AstraZeneca’s announcement said the new facility will produce drug substance for its weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9 and combination small molecule products.

The company’s announcement included a statement from Medicare Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA.

“We cannot truly be a wealthy nation without being a healthy nation,” Oz said. AstraZeneca’s groundbreaking “demonstrates the Trump Administration's commitment to onshoring drug manufacturing and strengthening supply chains to improve Americans' access to medication. I congratulate AstraZeneca for their investment and invite other foreign manufacturers to follow suit.”

The announcement on a drug price deal could be the second in less than two weeks. At the end of September, Trump, his key health advisers and Pfizer Chair and CEO Albert Bourla, DVM, PhD, met at the White House to announce that company’s commitment to lower drug prices.

Medical Economics and sister publications under parent company MJH Life Sciences have hosted an online webinar series with industry experts discussing the most favored nation order, the administration’s drug price policy, and potential effects on physicians, patients and the nation’s health care system. Click here for more information, including key takeaways and the full sessions on demand.