AstraZeneca reaches agreement with President Trump on drug prices: shots

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot shakes hands with President Trump in the Oval Office on Friday as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks on.

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AstraZeneca became the second drugmaker to strike a deal with the Trump administration to offer lower prices to Medicaid and offer some of its drugs at a discount TrumpRxa government website to facilitate direct sales to consumers.

“In other words, we’re getting the lowest price in the world,” President Trump said Friday during a news conference in the Oval Office. The centerpiece of the agreement is MFN treatment for drugs sold to Medicaid. This would bring Medicaid prices in line with lower prices in other developed countries.

As part of the agreement, AstraZeneca will also provide discounts of up to 80% off list prices when selling directly to consumers. says a company statement. Medications include inhalers such as Bevespi Aerosphere for people with COPD and Airsupra for people with asthma. AstraZeneca, based in the United Kingdom, also said it would expand drug manufacturing and research in the United States

In return for these commitments, the pharmaceutical company receives a three-year exemption from certain tariffs.

The White House has unveiled its plan for TrumpRx and the like Deal with Pfizer on September 30th. The website will allow patients to access medicines at lower prices – bypassing health insurance.

TrumpRx is part of a broader initiative that the government says aims to bring prices Americans pay more in line with prices paid in other developed countries.

The announcement followed a May executive order and letters sent to 17 drug companies over the summer urging them to voluntarily cut prices.

The TrumpRx website is expected to launch sometime in 2026 and will direct consumers to drug companies’ direct-to-consumer websites to process orders.

The impact of the Trump administration’s dealings with pharmaceutical companies on consumers is unclear. For example, Medicaid and its beneficiaries already pay some of the lowest prices for medications. And those with health insurance could spend less on their medications through additional payments than if they bought them directly from AstraZeneca.

Also AstraZeneca said on Thursday that it would invest another $500 million in a new manufacturing facility in Virginia, bringing the investment to $4.5 billion. This is part of a $50 billion investment announced in July to expand manufacturing facilities in California, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia, as well as other research and development efforts.

“To all the pharmaceutical companies out there – we’re talking to all of you: pick up the scoop,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, during the press conference.

Trump said his administration had received commitments totaling $18 trillion to restart pharmaceutical production. NPR could not immediately independently confirm that number.