As President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon said he was signing four executive orders aiming to lower drug prices, pharmaceutical companies’ shares closed with losses.
The orders targeting drug prices “may illustrate efforts by the Trump administration to shore up support for a key voter issue with
President Trump and
other Republicans losing momentum ahead of the election,” said Height Capital Markets analysts in a note Friday.
Trump said the first order “will require federal community health centers to pass the giant discounts they receive from drug companies on insulin and EpiPens directly to their patients,” while the second allows some drug importation and the third will take discounts away from middlemen such as pharmacy benefits manager and give them to patients.
The fourth order will require that Medicare purchase drugs at the same price as foreign countries pay, Trump said. It “will end global freeloading on the backs of American patients and American seniors,” he said.
As a result of the orders, the heads of major drug companies have requested a meeting on Tuesday to discuss how to lower drug prices and out-of-pocket expenses for Americans, the president added. If talks are successful, the administration may not need to implement the fourth executive order, he said.
(MW)