Pharma Giant, AstraZeneca, Slashes Drug Prices for Americans

By Louis Conte and Adam Garrie, The MAHA Report

On October 10, President Trump, flanked by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other members of his public health leadership, announced that AstraZeneca has agreed to reduce the cost of its drugs for American citizens. An ebullient Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca CEO, was on hand, praising the president’s ambitious vision.

With this agreement, AstraZeneca drug prices, for chronic conditions such as COPD, will now be on par with the lowest prices paid by other developed nations – known as the “most-favored-nation” price.

The deal follows an identical agreement the president struck with Pfizer in September – and it’s part of an initiative Trump launched on July 31, 2024. On that day, the president sent letters to leading pharmaceutical manufacturers “outlining the 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.”

Big Pharma’s executives have gotten the message.

Under the terms of the AstraZeneca agreement, the British-Swedish multinational conglomerate, with revenue last year of over $54 billion, must offer drugs at well below list price when selling directly to American customers. The company must also provide every state Medicaid program in the country access to MFN drug prices on AstraZeneca products. This will mean significantly reduced costs for all Americans, including vulnerable people on Medicaid who can least afford high drug costs.

State and county governments, which are often tasked with administering aspects of Medicaid, will see lower costs — and the entire healthcare system will benefit.

According to USA Facts, drug prices have outpaced inflation since the 1990’s. Significantly reducing the costs of pharmaceuticals will help reduce inflation across the U.S. economy.

AstraZeneca is a leading provider of drugs that address asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

An estimated 9 million Americans are treated by AstraZeneca medicines and will benefit from the president’s successful negotiation to lower prices. A White House Fact Sheet notes that 25 million Americans suffer from asthma, and 16 million suffer from COPD – one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States.

The upshot – millions of Americans who suffer from these chronic diseases will now pay less for their drugs, including for these AstraZeneca products:

• BEVESPI AEROSPHERE, an inhaler used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), will be made available to patients at a discount equal to 654% of the deal price.

• BREZTRI AEROSPHERE, an inhaler used to treat COPD, will be made available to patients at a discount equal to 98% of the deal price.

• AIRSUPRA, an inhaler used to treat asthma symptoms and attacks, will be available to patients at a discount equal to 96% of the deal price.

Takeaways:

President Trump announced an agreement with AstraZeneca, a leading global pharmaceutical company, to lower costs that will help Americans dealing with chronic diseases such asthma and COPD.

Americans have historically paid much more for drugs than citizens from countries that have the most-favored-nation (MFN) status. Americans will now pay the same drug costs as other MFN nations.

This is the second major agreement that the White House has announced in the past month, delivering on the president’s promise to lower the high costs of drugs for Americans.