Pharmaceutical companies in the US are set to face sweeping price cuts, with Donald Trump announcing he will sign an executive order to reduce costs by between 30% and 80%, describing it as “one of the most consequential executive orders in our country’s history.”
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday evening, the former US President and Republican frontrunner accused drug companies of exploiting American patients for years. He claimed that campaign donations had helped shield the pharmaceutical industry from reform, but said that era was over.
“For many years the world has wondered why prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals in the United States of America were so much higher in price than they were in any other nation,” Trump wrote.
“It was always difficult to explain and very embarrassing because, in fact, there was no correct or rightful answer.”
The former president argued that the justification of “research and development costs” had long been used to unfairly burden American citizens with the highest medicine prices in the world.
“All of these costs were, and would be, for no reason whatsoever, borne by the ‘suckers’ of America, alone,” he wrote.
“Campaign contributions can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican Party.”
Trump said that the move would bring global parity to pharmaceutical pricing, saving the US vast sums of money.
“Prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%,” he wrote.
“They will rise throughout the world in order to equalise and, for the first time in many years, bring fairness to America!”
He added that the new measures would include a “most favoured nation’s policy” to ensure Americans pay no more than the cheapest rate available globally.
“Our country will finally be treated fairly,” he said.
“Our citizens’ healthcare costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before.”
Trump claimed the executive order would not only help patients, but drastically reduce federal spending.
“The United States will save trillions of dollars,” he said.
Trump previously attempted to impose price caps on medicines under Medicare during his presidency, but the move was blocked in court following legal challenges from the pharmaceutical industry.
Following the announcement, pharmaceutical shares fell sharply on Monday amid investor fears that the policy could damage profits.
Hong Kong-based BeiGene and Innovent Biologics fell by 8.9% and 7% respectively. In South Korea, SK Biopharmaceuticals lost 2.7%, and Samsung Biologics 4.7%.
In Frankfurt, Novo Nordisk fell by 7.5%, while Switzerland’s Roche Holdings declined 3.6%.