On May 12, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) entitled “Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients” with the goal of ensuring Americans pay no more for prescription drugs than other developed nations.
The EO directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to communicate most-favored-nation (MFN) price targets to manufacturers, and if significant progress is not made toward such pricing structures, to propose a rulemaking plan to address the issue. The EO further directed the HHS Secretary to facilitate direct-to-consumer purchasing programs for manufacturers selling their products at the MFN prices.
In furtherance of these goals, on July 31, 2025, President Trump sent letters to leading pharmaceutical manufacturers outlining steps they must take to bring down the prices of prescription drugs in the United States to match the lowest price offered in other developed nations.
As a result, on September 30, 2025, President Trump announced the first agreement with a major pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, to bring American drug prices in line with the lowest price paid by other developed nations. According to the White House, the agreement with Pfizer will:
- Provide every state Medicaid program with access to MFN prices on Pfizer products;
- Ensure “foreign nations can no longer use price controls to freeride on American innovation” by guaranteeing MFN prices on all new medicines brought to the market by Pfizer;
- Require Pfizer to repatriate increased foreign revenue realized as a result of the administration’s trade policies; and
- Require Pfizer to offer medications at deep discounts when selling directly to American patients.
Also on September 30, the administration announced it would be rolling out a new direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx, where individuals can buy prescription medications at discounted prices rather than through insurance. Though few specific details were provided about TrumpRx, the administration announced at least four Pfizer medicines, Eucrisa, Duavee, Zavzpret and Xeljanz, would be available through the website, which is planned for launch in “early 2026.”
The Pfizer deal and the announcement of TrumpRx constitute significant steps towards reaching the administration’s goal of lowering prescription drug prices for American citizens. However, the lack of specifics in the rollout of TrumpRx leaves many questions unanswered. At the top of that list is whether the TrumpRx program, which addresses the cash price of prescription drugs, will have a tangible impact on the prices patients covered by insurance pay for such medications.