Trump to announce US drug pricing deal at White House, MSNBC says it's with AstraZeneca

By Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement on Friday about lowering U.S. drug prices, according to a White House official who declined to provide any additional details. Trump is expected to announce a deal with Britain-based drugmaker AstraZeneca, MSNBC reported, citing a White House official. The deal would include a "most-favored-nation" drug pricing model aimed at making prescriptions more affordable for low-income Americans, including those on the government's Medicaid health plan, the report said. Discounted prices would be available through the TrumpRx website, planned to launch next year, and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot will be present at the White House for the announcement, MSNBC said. The White House was not immediately available for comment. AstraZeneca declined to comment. ANNOUNCEMENT COMES AFTER PFIZER DEAL The announcement, which follows a deal Trump announced last week with U.S. drugmaker Pfizer, is set to take place at 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) in the Oval Office, the White House official had said. Pfizer agreed to lower prescription drug prices in the Medicaid program for lower-income Americans to what it charges in other developed countries in exchange for tariff relief. 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. Pfizer was the first major pharmaceutical company to announce a deal with Trump after the president sent letters to 17 leading drugmakers in July telling them to slash prices. He asked them to respond with binding commitments by September 29. The news of an impending second "most-favored-nation" drug pricing announcement was first reported by CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs in a post on X, citing people familiar with the matter. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington and Mariam E Sunny in Bengaluru; Writing by Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)