US President Donald Trump on Thursday will conduct meeting with chief executives from major pharmaceutical companies. Reportedly, the industry is trying to win government support for drug pricing and insurance changes.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, the meeting is expected to cover topics including Medicare drug price negotiations, the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and tariffs on pharmaceutical products.
The White House did not say who would be attending, but Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the meeting will include Stephen Ubl, head of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main lobby group for drugmakers.
Drugmakers, which are grappling with a wild card from Trump of a possible 25% tariff on pharmaceutical imports, have been exploring the possibility of government-granted exemptions for medicines to import duties.
Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said last week that he believed Trump was considering exemptions to reciprocal tariffs that include the automobile and pharmaceutical industries.
Drugmakers have been hoping to change a Biden-era law that allows Medicare, the government health plan for Americans aged 65 and up, to negotiate prices for its costliest medicines, including Novo Nordisk’s popular weight-loss drug Wegovy.
The industry is also pushing for curbs on the rebates they pay pharmacy benefit managers, which act as middlemen between drug companies and consumers, in exchange for favorable placement on insurer coverage lists. They argue that these rebates contribute to the high price of prescription drugs.
Trump previously met with Ubl and chief executives of U.S. drugmakers Pfizer and Eli Lilly at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in December, according to reports.
(With inputs from Reuters)
