The Trump administration is preparing to announce fresh drug-pricing agreements with several midsized biotech companies as part of its most favoured nation pricing push.
The companies involved will agree to provide discounts on outpatient drugs to state Medicaid programmes, aligning prices with what those firms charge in foreign markets.
Participation in the scheme by state Medicaid programmes will remain optional, giving individual states flexibility over whether to adopt the new pricing arrangements.
The move forms part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to close the long-standing gap between prescription drug costs in the United States and those in other developed nations.
American patients currently pay roughly triple the price for prescription drugs compared to patients in many other countries, a disparity that has fuelled political pressure on pharmaceutical companies for years.
The latest round of agreements follows a previous series of most favoured nation deals struck with 17 large pharmaceutical companies earlier in 2026.
The White House previously released a report projecting potential savings of $529 billion over the next decade from the most favoured nation pricing policy applied across the industry.
The administration has stated it “expects to reach similar agreements with most manufacturers of sole-source brand-name drugs and biologics in the nation.”
A group of midsized biotech firms recently formed the Midsized Biotech Alliance of America, known as the MBAA, expressing concern over the financial impact of the pricing policy on their businesses.
The MBAA includes companies such as Alnylam (ALNY), BioMarin (BMRN), Madrigal (MDGL), and Travere (TVTX), many of which have only one or two products on the market.
These companies argue they lack the diverse product portfolios that larger pharmaceutical groups can rely on to absorb revenue losses resulting from significant pricing pressure.
The MBAA has also contended that its members do not have the financial capacity to build new manufacturing facilities within the United States, unlike the larger firms that have already struck deals.
The administration has additionally used voluntary pricing agreements to reduce costs for GLP-1 medications, while simultaneously working to broaden Medicare coverage of obesity treatments.