AstraZeneca has agreed to sell some of its medicines at discounted prices to the US Medicaid program in exchange for relief from Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs.
The British-based pharmaceutical company is the second major drugmaker, after Pfizer, to sign such an agreement with the White House. The deal forms part of Trump’s “most-favored-nation” pricing plan, which aims to match US drug prices with the lowest rates in other developed countries.
“For years, Americans have paid the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Trump said during an Oval Office announcement on Friday. “Now, we’re going to have the lowest.”
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who attended the event, said negotiations with Trump’s team had been intense. “They really kept me up at night,” he admitted.
Under the deal, AstraZeneca will apply discounted pricing to Medicaid — the government’s health program for low-income Americans — and commit to similar pricing on new drugs. The White House also announced that reduced prices would be available through a “TrumpRx” website.
While Trump claimed the deal could slash drug prices by “up to 1,000%,” experts quickly dismissed the figure as impossible. “Cutting prices by more than 100% would mean patients get paid to take their medicine,” said CNN’s Daniel Dale, citing health economists who called the statement “not logical.”
Analysts say the real impact will likely be modest. Medicaid already receives some of the lowest prices in the US, and AstraZeneca’s discounts may not significantly change overall costs.
“The tariffs were a big reason he came here,” Trump said of Soriot, referring to his threat of 100% import taxes on pharmaceutical goods.
Rena Conti, a health policy expert at Boston University, said the agreement may benefit drug companies more than consumers. “It’s good for the companies,” she said. “But it’s unclear if it will actually help Americans struggling with prescription costs.”
