The head of the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday praised a plan announced by the White House earlier this week that President Trump said is designed to lower the cost of prescription drugs, calling it a “major step” toward making medication more affordable for Americans.
On Tuesday, the president announced that drug giant Pfizer had agreed to be part of a new direct-to-consumer government purchasing platform known as TrumpRx, that, according to Pfizer, will allow “American patients to purchase medicines from Pfizer at a significant discount.”
The president said that Pfizer had “agreed to offer countless prescription medications at major discounts in the United States.”
Pfizer is the first of many drug makers the president claimed has agreed to offer steep drug discounts to all Americans through TrumpRx, in line with the lowest prices paid by Europeans.
“We’ve seen this disparity for a long time, and we know it has not been sustainable,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary told CBS News in an interview Thursday.
The president also said that Pfizer had agreed to lower the cost of the prescription medications that it provides to Medicaid recipients.
“Pfizer is committing to offer all of their prescription medications to Medicaid, and it will be at the most-favored nations prices,” Mr. Trump said.
Makary argues the Trump administration’s agreement with Pfizer will help in addressing health care costs across the board.
“By reigning in egregious drug prices, we’re actually addressing the larger issue of healthcare costs in the United States, which is something no one has really be able to get a handle on until now,” Makary said.
According to Pfizer, TrumpRx will provide savings up to 85% for certain medications, such as Duavee, a drug that treats menopause symptoms.
Duavee’s sticker price is $203 per month, but according to Pfizer, on TrumpRx, it will cost $30 per month. Xeljanz, a Pfizer medication for arthritis, currently costs $6,000 out-of-pocket per month, but on TrumpRx, it will cost about $3,600.
“This is a major, major step, and we have to do it,” Makary told CBS News when asked if, even with the discounts, the drugs will still be unaffordable for many Americans.
The Trump administration said the TrumpRx website will launch next year, but Makarty did not have specific timing.
Makary believes that patients with health insurance who are still unable to afford certain medications will still be helped by TrumpRx.
“I think it’s going to help them significantly,” Makary said. “You’re going to see a series of announcements by different pharmaceutical companies. This has been the No. 1 health priority in this administration.”
Sarah Wisniewski, a Maryland resident in her mid-40s, has been living with multiple sclerosis since 2018. Although she she says she has good insurance, it has repeatedly failed to cover the specialty medication her doctor prescribed to slow the progression of her disease. In 2024, when her physician recommended a treatment that could help, she says her insurance company denied coverage three times. She was only approved after the Maryland attorney general intervened.
When CBS News asked Makarty about Wisniewski, he explained, “I’ve seen that story throughout my career as a cancer surgeon, and it’s tragic, and we’ve seen nothing on drug prices for the last 50 years.”
More than 90% of Americans have some form of health insurance, yet many still struggle to afford critical medications. Wisniewski told CBS News she is skeptical about the new TrumpRx program.
“If big pharma isn’t required to put their drugs on this market, and if they’re not forced to lower prices, then this feels like a toothless, symbolic statement, as opposed to having any real, long-term impact on the lives of the clinically ill,” she said.
She also questioned how the administration plans to pressure pharmaceutical companies to list the most urgently needed medications on the platform. Even at 50% to 80% cheaper, she said, some of these drugs remain unaffordable.
Makary told CBS News that this is just the beginning of the solution:
“Each year, we throw good money after bad into a broken system where we pay more and more for drugs,” Makary said. “This is the first time we’re seeing a major reset — cutting the price of some drugs, not all, but some, by 50% to 80%.”
Stacie Dusetzina, a prescription medication industry expert and a health policy professor at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says the president’s plan will not lower most Americans’ out-of-pocket costs for medications.
“The reality of who can actually benefit by paying cash for these drugs through this website, it’s probably going to be a smaller number of people than what is being promoted,” Dusetzina said.
Sean Sullivan, a health economist at the University of Washington, also previously expressed doubts to CBS News about how much the program would help Americans save.
“Most patients have drug coverage…Very few are going to buy medications with cash, unless the drug is not a covered benefit, like weight loss or erectile dysfunction drugs,” he said.
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