Here are four notes:
- In a private White House meeting Feb. 20, President Trump warned drugmakers that tariffs on pharmaceuticals could be imminent and urged companies to shift overseas manufacturing to the U.S., Bloomberg reported Feb. 21.
- President Trump did not commit to supporting the pharmaceutical industry’s push to scale back the drug pricing negotiation program enacted under Joe Biden, and executives have been seeking relief from the policy.
- During the meeting, top executives from Eli Lilly, Merck, Pfizer and PhRMA urged President Trump to support equalizing the exclusion periods for different types of drugs under the pricing program, arguing that the current rules distort incentives for drug development. However, he wouldn’t commit to doing so, expressing concern that making the changes to drug pricing policy would complicate a Republican effort to pass tax reforms, according to the Bloomberg report.
- In a Novartis lawsuit filed Feb. 21, the Trump administration defended the drug price negotiation program in court, arguing that participating in Medicare and Medicaid is voluntary and pharmaceutical companies are free to decide whether or not to engage in the program, according to court documents obtained by Becker’s.
