Trump scored a big win with AstraZeneca joining Pfizer in lowering US drug prices

president Donald Trump AstraZeneca scored a major victory on Friday when AstraZeneca agreed to lower Medicaid prescription drug prices — a move that follows a similar deal struck by Pfizer and represents a central point in the administration’s push for more affordable drugs.

according to APThe agreement, announced during a White House Oval Office event, commits AstraZeneca to “most favored nation” pricing for Medicaid.

This means that the company will match the lowest drug prices offered in other rich countries.

Trump celebrated the deal, saying it could make US prices “the lowest anywhere in the world.”

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot joined Trump in making the announcement. In a sarcastic tone, he later admitted that the negotiations were intense: the president and his team “kept me up all night.”

Under the new deal, AstraZeneca will also ensure pricing benchmark for the newly launched drugs.

This move comes in the wake of Pfizer’s recent agreement with the administration. Both deals are based on an executive order Trump signed in May: drugmakers were given the option of voluntarily lowering prices or facing tougher limits on what the government would pay.

Trump touts $4.5 billion AstraZeneca deal

Trump criticized AstraZeneca’s initial resistance, joking: “Tariffs were a big reason he came here.”

The president also highlighted AstraZeneca’s commitment to expanding production in the United States by announcing a new $4.5 billion manufacturing plant in Virginia, just part of a $50 billion investment plan through 2030.

This facility alone is expected to create approximately 3,600 jobs in the United States.

AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, UK, produces treatments such as Tagrisso for lung cancer, Lynparza for ovarian cancer, and Calquence for leukemia — collectively generating more than $7.5 billion in U.S. sales last year.

While the announcements have been met with praise from drug affordability advocates, some experts warn that placing all hope on drugmakers could be risky in the absence of stronger U.S. policies to support them.

Questions remain about how much patients and states really benefit, given that Medicaid already secures a “best price” deal and most patients don’t pay the full cost out of pocket. CBS News I mentioned.

Trump also introduced a new initiative: a website called TrumpRx.gov, scheduled to launch in January 2026.

Patients will be able to order medicines directly from Roche and AstraZeneca through the website at discounted cash prices.

Originally published on vcpost.com