By Michael Erman, Jarrett Renshaw and Patrick Wingrove
Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and nine major pharmaceutical companies on Friday announced deals that will slash the prices of their medicines for the government's Medicaid program and for cash payers, in his latest bid to align U.S. costs with those in other wealthy nations.
Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, and Merck and Roche's U.S. unit Genentech have struck deals. Novartis, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi and GSK have also signed on.
Under the deals, each drugmaker will cut prices on most drugs sold to the Medicaid program for low-income people, senior administration officials said, promising "massive savings" on widely used medicines without giving specific figures.
U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay elsewhere.
The details of each deal were not immediately available but officials said they included agreements to cut cash-pay direct-to-consumer prices of select drugs sold potentially through the TrumpRx.gov website, to launch drugs in the U.S. at prices equal to - not lower than - those in other wealthy nations and to increase manufacturing. In return, companies can receive a three-year exemption from any tariffs.
MERCK'S JANUVIA, JANUMET ON TRUMPRX
Merck said it will sell its diabetes drugs Januvia, Janumet and Janumet XR - set to face generic competition next year - directly to U.S. consumers at about 70% off list prices. If approved, its experimental cholesterol drug enlicitide will also be offered through direct-to-consumer channels.
Enlicitide is one of two Merck drugs expected to receive a speedy review under the FDA's new, fast-track pathway, Reuters previously reported.
In July, Trump sent letters to leaders of 17 major drugmakers, urging them to offer so-called most-favored-nation prices to Medicaid and ensure new medicines launch at prices no higher than those in other wealthy countries.
Five companies had previously struck deals with the administration to rein in prices - Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk and EMD Serono, the U.S. division of Germany's Merck KGaA.
The remaining three that have not announced deals are Regeneron, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie. Investors initially feared sweeping U.S. price controls, but the details of recent deals have largely eased those concerns. Reuters previously reported that AbbVie was expected to announce a deal on Friday.