Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responds to a report the Trump administration is negotiating a cope with weight reduction drugmakers.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, whose weight loss-related medication have created a frenzy, are working with the Trump administration on a deal that might lower the price of the bottom doses of their standard medication to $149 for a month’s provide, sources acquainted with the matter advised The Wall Road Journal.
As a part of the deal, which could possibly be introduced as quickly as Thursday, the medication could be offered via TrumpRx, a forthcoming government-run initiative anticipated to launch subsequent yr that can join customers straight with drug producers to buy discounted prescribed drugs with out insurance coverage.
Beneath the deal, Medicare and Medicaid would additionally cowl the medication for weight reduction, successfully boosting the variety of sufferers who can entry the drug, the sources advised the Journal.
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A Novo Nordisk spokesperson advised FOX Enterprise the corporate “is engaged in constructive discussions with the administration regarding the Most Favored Nation executive order,” which is aimed toward decreasing U.S. drug costs by requiring that Medicare pay no extra for sure prescribed drugs than the bottom value paid by different developed nations.
Wegovy injection pens organized in Waterbury, Vt., April 28, 2025. (Shelby Knowles/Bloomberg through Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
“We remain focused on improving patient access and affordability, and we will continue to work to find solutions that help people access the medication they need,” the spokesperson stated. Novo Nordisk didn’t touch upon the actual deal.
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Eli Lilly advised FOX Enterprise additionally it is in discussions with the administration “to further expand patient access, preserve innovation and promote the affordability of our medicines.” It declined to supply particular particulars concerning the dialogue.
Nonetheless, the sources stated President Donald Trump may make an announcement as quickly as Thursday alongside pharmaceutical executives.
A customs investigator holds a bundle of Ozempic throughout a presentation of seized doping brokers, medication and property akin to money and gold on the Hamburg Customs Investigation Workplace April 17, 2025. (Marcus Brandt/image alliance through Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt additionally declined to touch upon the specifics of the deal throughout a press convention Tuesday however stated the president has beforehand famous that this has been a giant precedence for the administration.
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“I won’t get ahead of the president on any future announcements, but I will echo his strong commitment to bringing down drug prices in this country,” Leavitt stated. “And you’ve heard it directly from Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Marty McCaffrey and his entire Health and Human Services team how committed the president is to bringing down the cost of drugs.”
She additionally stated the administration has been working with the “pharmaceutical companies to do that every day.”
Each corporations have already launched their very own direct-to-consumer platforms aimed toward increasing affected person entry by limiting the boundaries new sufferers face.
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Novo Nordisk launched its platform, NovoCarePharmacy, in March, permitting sufferers who couldn’t afford the usual record value or lacked insurance coverage protection for its extremely coveted medication Wegovy and Ozempic.
Lilly’s platform, LillyDirect, which launched in early 2024, permits some customers who lack insurance coverage or who’re insured or lack ample protection to entry Zepbound and Mounjaro straight from Eli Lilly with out going via insurance coverage.
