AstraZeneca confirms deal with U.S. to lower cost of medicines

AstraZeneca (AZN) on Friday confirmed an agreement with President Donald J. Trump’s administration to lower the cost of prescription medicines for American patients while preserving America’s biopharmaceutical innovation. At an event at the White House, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot joined President Trump and members of his Administration to confirm the company voluntarily met all requests set out in the President’s 31 July letter. The company agrees to a range of measures which will enable American patients to access medicines at prices that are equalized with those available in wealthy countries. As part of the agreement, AstraZeneca will provide Direct-to-Consumer sales to eligible patients with prescriptions for chronic diseases at a discount of up to 80% off list prices. AstraZeneca will participate in the TrumpRx.gov direct purchasing platform, which will allow patients to purchase medicines at a reduced cash price from AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca has also reached an agreement with the US Department of Commerce to delay Section 232 tariffs for three years, enabling the company to fully onshore medicines manufacturing so that all of its medicines sold in America are made in America. This will be achieved through the company’s recently announced $50B investment in U.S. medicines manufacturing and R&D over the next five years to help deliver $80B in Total Revenue by 2030, 50% of which is expected to be generated in the U.S. Pascal Soriot, CEO, AstraZeneca, said: “Every year AstraZeneca treats millions of Americans living with cancer and chronic diseases and, as a result of today’s agreement, many patients will access life-changing medicines at lower prices. This new approach also helps safeguard America’s pioneering role as a global powerhouse in innovation and developing the next generation of medicines. It is now essential other wealthy countries step up their contribution to fund innovation.”