Trump to meet pharma leaders as they seek drug policy changes

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Patrick Wingrove

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Thursday with chief executives from major drugmakers, a White House official confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday, as the industry tries to win government support for drug pricing and insurance changes.

The meeting is expected to cover topics including Medicare drug price negotiations, the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and tariffs on pharmaceutical products, according to an industry source with knowledge of the matter.

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.

(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)