The head of the Food and Drug Administration Thursday rented a plan Announced by the White House earlier this week that President Trump said it is designed to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, calling it “major step” to make drugs more affordable for Americans.
On Tuesday, the president announced that the drug giant Pfizer had agreed to be part of a new direct government purchase platform for consumers known as Trumprx, which, according to Pfizer, will allow “American patients to buy medication in Pfizer to a significant discount”.
The president said Pfizer “agreed to offer countless prescription drugs to major discounts in the United States”.
Pfizer is the first of the many drug manufacturers that the President has warned has agreed to offer strong drug discounts to all Americans via Trumprx, in accordance with the lowest prices paid by Europeans.
“We have seen this disparity for a long time, and we know that it has not been lasting”, commissioner of the FDA Dr Marty Makary told CBS News in an interview on Thursday.
The president also said that Pfizer had agreed to reduce the cost of prescription drugs that he provides the beneficiaries of Medicaid.
“Pfizer undertakes to propose all their medication on a prescription in Medicaid, and it will be at the most favored prices in the countries,” said Mr. Trump.
Makary maintains that the Trump administration agreement with Pfizer will help treat health care costs in all areas.
“By reigning the blatant prices of drugs, we actually tackle the greater problem of health costs in the United States, which no one has really been able to control so far,” said Makary.
According to Pfizer, Trumprx will save up to 85% for certain drugs, such as Duavee, a drug that treats the symptoms of menopause.
The price of duavee stickers is $ 203 per month, but according to Pfizer, on Trumprx, it will cost $ 30 per month. Xeljanz, a Pfizer drug for arthritis, currently costs $ 6,000 per pocket per month, but on Trumprx, it will cost about $ 3,600.
“This is a major and major step, and we have to do it,” Makary told CBS News when asked if, even with discounts, drugs will always be unaffordable for many Americans.
The Trump administration said the Trumprx website will be launched next year, but Makarty had not had a specific timing.
Makary believes that patients with health insurance who are still unable to afford certain drugs will always be helped by Trumprx.
“I think it will help them significantly,” said Makary. “You will see a series of announcements from different pharmaceutical companies. This is the n ° 1 priority of health in this administration.”
Sarah Wisnietski, a resident of Maryland in the middle of her forties, has lived with multiple sclerosis since 2018. Although she says that she has good insurance, she failed to cover the specialized drugs that her doctor has prescribed to slow down the progress of her illness. In 2024, when her doctor recommended a treatment that could help, she said that her insurance company refused coverage three times. It was only approved after the intervention of the Attorney General of Maryland.
When CBS News interviewed Makarty about Wisnietski, he explained: “I saw this story throughout my career as a cancer surgeon, and it’s tragic, and we haven’t seen anything about medication prices in the past 50 years.”
More than 90% of Americans have a form of health insurance, but much is still struggling to afford critical drugs. Wisnietski told CBS News that she was skeptical about the new Trumprx program.
“If Big Pharma is not required to put your drugs on this market, and if they are not forced to reduce prices, it looks like a toothless symbolic declaration, instead of having a real long-term impact on the life of clinically patients,” she said.
She also asked how the administration planned to put pressure on pharmaceutical companies to list the most urgent drugs on the platform. Even 50% to 80% cheaper, she said, some of these drugs remain unaffordable.
Makary told CBS News that it was only the start of the solution:
“Each year, we throw a lot of money after a bad system where we pay more and more for drugs,” said Makary. “This is the first time that we have seen a major reset – reducing the price of certain drugs, not all, but some from 50% to 80%.”
Stacie Dusetzina, an expert in the prescription medication industry and professor of health policy at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says that the President’s plan will not increase the costs of most Americans for drugs.
“The reality of who can really benefit by paying in cash these drugs via this website, it will probably be a smaller number of people than what is promoted,” said Dusetzina.
Sean Sullivan, health economist at Washington University, also expressed doubts at CBS News on the amount of the program would help Americans save.
“Most patients have medication coverage … Very few will buy medicines with money, unless the drug is a covered advantage, such as weight loss or erectile dysfunction drugs,” he said.
And Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.
