The Trump administration on Tuesday granted Pfizer a three-year reprieve on planned tariffs in a deal that would see the pharmaceutical giant voluntarily lower the prices of unspecified drugs in the United States.
AFP reports: US President Donald Trump, flanked by top health officials, was scant on details regarding what or how many drugs were included in the deal.
The announcements are part of Trump’s efforts to strike “Most Favored Nation” pricing deals with drug manufacturers, which would see pharmaceutical companies link US prices to the lowest cost of drugs that other wealthy countries pay.
The White House also said it would unveil a website — called TrumpRx — that would allow consumers to directly purchase some medications at discounted rates.
The announcement saw Pfizer’s stock price rise by five percent.
Like Trump, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla heralded the deal as a great achievement, although a statement from the company was equally vague on specifics.
The company did say a “large majority” of “primary care treatments and some select specialty brands” could be offered at savings from 50 percent to 85 percent.
Trump also said Pfizer had agreed to “invest $70 billion to reshore domestic manufacturing facilities” to the United States.
Democrats have long indicated that they, too, would like to lower drug prices.
In a report released on Monday, independent Senator Bernie Sanders said that Trump’s efforts on the issue had “made headlines” but had done “little beyond that.”