President Trump Demands MFN Prices In Manufacturer Letters

By Katie Anderson, Chief Editor, Pharmaceutical Online

At the end of July 2025, President Trump sent out 17 letters to major pharmaceutical manufacturers demanding lower prices on prescription drugs. The letters were sent out to major executives at AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi.

In his letters, President Trump highlighted four major requests.

1. MFN Prices for Medicaid: He requested the full portfolio of drugs from each of these manufacturers be offered at most favored nation (MFN) prices.
2. MFN Prices on New Drugs: He asked manufacturers to offer MFN pricing on all new drugs now and moving forward to Medicaid, Medicare and commercial payers.
3. Increased Foreign Pricing: President Trump suggested that manufacturers are offering drug discounts abroad and carrying the cost onto the American taxpayer. He asked for increased prices abroad and harder negotiations with “freeloading foreign nations.” He noted that U.S. trade policy with support this, noting that higher prices abroad would allow manufacturers to lower prices to American patients.
4. Direct Purchasing Agreements: President Trump has set his sights on direct purchasing vendors, asking manufacturers to offer MFN prices through Direct to Consumer (DTC) or Direct to Business (DTB) models for high-volume, high-rebate drugs.

The letters from President Trump urged manufacturers to reach out his team, Secretary Kennedy and Administrator Oz, who are ready to implement these requests. He gave a due date of 60 days, or until Sept. 29, 2025, to commit to his requests. Otherwise, a threat of “deploying every tool in our arsenal to protect American families” was put on the table.