Trump, AstraZeneca announce US drug pricing deal at White House

By Steve Holland and Michael Erman WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump unveiled a deal with UK-based drugmaker AstraZeneca on Friday under which the company will sell some medicines at a discount to the government's Medicaid health plan, similar to a drug pricing pact reached last week with Pfizer. The deals suggest a framework the White House will use to try to reach its goal of lowering U.S. prescription medicine prices. The president sent letters to 17 leading drugmakers in July telling them to slash prices. Pfizer and Astra are the first two companies to reach a deal with the administration. AstraZeneca will also offer some of its drugs at a discount from their list price through the TrumpRx website planned for next year, CEO Pascal Soriot said at an event in the Oval Office. U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay elsewhere or face stiff tariffs. Last month, Trump threatened 100% tariffs, ratcheting up pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to agree to price cuts and shift manufacturing to the U.S., after negotiations broke down earlier this year, lobbyists and executives told Reuters following the Pfizer deal. (Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington, Maggie Fick in London, Patrick Wingrove in New York and Mariam E Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

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