Breaking News: AstraZeneca, White House Announce Most-Favored-Nation Deal

President Donald J. Trump announced in a press conference on Friday afternoon that AstraZeneca had agreed to align with the most-favored-nation (MFN) drug-pricing initiative.

"Today AstraZeneca is committing to offer their medications to Medicaid at most-favored-nation status," Trump said, promising discounts of 100%, 400%, 600%, and 1000% (a discount of 100% is free). "Americans can expect discounts of, in many cases, it could be way over 100% ... [up to] 654%."

Trump also mentioned AstraZeneca's investment in producing drugs in the US and its groundbreaking ceremony on a new plant in Virginia, which he said he was looking forward to attending.

US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called "this historical achievement ... really monumental." He said past drug price reductions were measured against list prices, but not against drug prices in other countries. "We had extraordinary leverage to craft these deals," Kennedy said. "[AstraZeneca] is one of the biggest European [drug] companies. The president asked us to get MFN prices ... not bankrupt these companies, and ... to make sure that these companies would keep their promise to reassure this industry." With Pfizer's promise to lower prices and now AstraZeneca, Kennedy said these things have been accomplished.

Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said that by the time the administration was done, "95% of medications will be available to the public at most-favored prices." He also encouraged other foreign-based companies to move production to the US.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot commended Trump on his team and his vision, and thanked him for his collaboration leading up to this announcement. He promised to expand the company's manufacturing and research/development in the US, and noted that AstraZeneca has secured a 3-year waiver on tariffs for importing drugs.

Details of the Announcement

The news that AstraZeneca planned to announce a deal with the White House to voluntarily align with the Trump administration’s MFN drug-pricing initiative was first reported by MSNBC and confirmed by Axios. This makes it the second biopharmaceutical corporation after Pfizer to agree to lower drug prices in the US for low-income Americans on Medicaid to those of other wealthy countries. The reduced-price drugs will be available through the TrumpRx.gov website.^1-3

AstraZeneca is the first European-based company to follow Pfizer in adhering to Trump’s repeated efforts to get drug companies to comply with his executive actions that seek to reduce domestic drug prices. Trump aims for countries to adhere to MFN drug pricing, ensuring that patients in the US receive medications at the lowest price the company offers in any other country worldwide.^1,3

AstraZeneca will reinforce its commitment to investing $50 billion in manufacturing and research and development in the US. Recently, it announced an additional $4.5 billion investment in its new manufacturing facility in Virginia. The overall investment is expected to generate thousands of new jobs across the country.^1,4,5

Without compliance, the Trump administration threatened new regulations to force price reductions or the initiation of investigations through the Federal Trade Commission. In July, Trump sent a letter to pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca and Pfizer, encouraging them to adhere to his May executive order centered on MFN. On September 30, Pfizer became the first company to announce a deal with the Trump Administration, at which Trump publicly noted that more deals with other companies would follow.^1,4

According to MSNBC, the TrumpRx.gov website will not launch until 2026.¹

Pharmacy Times reached out to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services for comment on the story.

What Pharmacists Should Know

Pharmacies should begin to prepare their staff and core infrastructure for the proliferation of MFN pricing by familiarizing themselves with the government-run drug pricing portal. With this new platform, pharmacies may face direct competition with drug manufacturers for many primary and specialty care drugs. Furthermore, pharmacies should prepare for patients to request price matching to a discounted cash price in the TrumpRx database, risking losing patients if they cannot fulfill the request.⁶

Until more concrete details of the initiative are announced, pharmacies should prepare for uncertainty and possible price increases if tariffs are leveraged to their fullest extent in response to companies’ participation in the program.⁶

REFERENCES

1. Traylor J. Trump strikes drug-pricing deal with pharma giant AstraZeneca. MSNBC. Published October 10, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/trump-strikes-drug-pricing-deal-pharma-giant-astrazeneca-rcna236905

2. Bettelheim A, Sullivan P. Trump set to unveil drug price deal with AstraZeneca. Axios. Published October 10, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.axios.com/2025/10/10/trump-drug-prices-astra-zeneca

3. Halpern L. Pfizer agrees to lower certain drug prices in the US, aligning with most-favored nation plan. Pharmacy Times. Published October 1, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/pfizer-agrees-to-lower-certain-drug-prices-in-us-aligning-with-most-favored-nation-plan

4. AstraZeneca plans to increase investment and scope of its Virginia manufacturing facility to $4.5 billion, creating 3,600 new jobs. AstraZeneca. News release. Published October 9, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.astrazeneca-us.com/content/az-us/media/press-releases/2025/astrazeneca-plans-to-increase-investment-and-scope-of-its-virginia-manufacturing-facility-to-four-point-five-billion-creating-thirty-six-hundred-new-jobs.html

5. AstraZeneca plans to invest $50 billion in America for medicines manufacturing and R&D. AstraZeneca. News release. Released July 21, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2025/astrazeneca-plans-to-invest-50bn-dollars-in-the-us.html

6. TrumpRx: What pharmacies and plan sponsors need to know. Buchanan. Published October 8, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.bipc.com/trumprx-what-pharmacies-and-plan-sponsors-need-to-know