The White House announced Tuesday it was rolling out a direct-to-consumer website where individuals can buy prescription medications at discounted prices rather than through insurance.
The new website, called TrumpRx, was unveiled as part of the Trump administration's broader effort to implement a “most favored nation” (MFN) pricing model for prescription drugs, meaning that the U.S. pays no more than the lowest prices charged in other wealthy countries.
Trump also announced a sweeping deal with pharma giant Pfizer to reduce the price of many of its drugs. Pfizer agreed to provide all of its prescription drugs on Medicaid at reduced MFN drug pricing, Fierce Pharma reported.
The deal came as pharma companies faced Trump’s deadline to lower prices under his MFN drug pricing campaign.
Pfizer also agreed to offer many of its drugs at a "significant discount" through the TrumpRx.gov site, the company said in a press release following the conference. Those DTC savings will range as high as 85% and come in at around 50% on average, the New York drugmaker explained.
The company said the large majority of its primary care treatments and some select specialty brands will be available on the TrumpRx site.
During a press conference Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the website would be operated by the federal government. But White House officials offered few details on how the website would work. It's unclear if the website would be limited to Medicaid patients.
The White House said in a post on X that "virtually all drugs" will be available discounted on the site. The Trump administration listed four drugs that will be available on the site: Eucrisa, Duvaee, Zavzpret and Xeljanz. All four of those drugs are made by Pfizer.
Chris Klomp, the Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the website will be launched "soon."
Drugs will be available "often at full MFN and always at lower prices than currently available," Klomp said during the press conference.
"This is bypassing middlemen. It increases transparency. In many instances, prices are 80% lower than they are today. No more Canadian detours to purchase drugs more inexpensively at our neighbor. You do it from home. You do it at a click," Klomp said. "This is American ingenuity outsmarting the system."
Most individuals buy prescriptions drugs through their insurance plans and using a DTC website would mean paying out of pocket rather than through insurance.
Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, told NBC News that direct to consumer sales “are not going to help the average person at all with achieving lower costs.”
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), a group that represents pharmacy benefit managers, cheered the Trump's administrations moves announced on Tuesday.
“PBMs share the Trump Administration’s goal of reducing prescription drug costs for every patient in America and have repeatedly called on drug companies to lower list prices, which is the most effective and lasting way to deliver a better deal for the American people," PCMA said.
The group also, as it typically does, pointed the finger at pharma companies for high drug pieces. “The Administration rightly recognizes that Americans are getting ripped off by paying higher drug prices than anyone in the world. Drug companies set drug prices, hike drug prices, and block more affordable drugs from competing in the market," PCMA said.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), however, took the opportunity to attack PBMs.
"The President’s announcement reflects the reality that pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) tactics are exploding Americans’ prescription drug costs, and this action is an attempt to strike a blow against the PBMs’ manipulation and self-enrichment in the prescription drug supply chain," NACDS President and CEO Steven Anderson said in a statement.
A government-run DTC website also would present competition to brick-and-mortar chain pharmacies.
“Importantly, though many of the details have not been released, this critical point must be emphasized: the health and wellness of Americans relies on their pharmacists and pharmacies – the most accessible and among the most trusted healthcare destinations," NACDS' Anderson said. "Americans’ access to their pharmacies, the face of neighborhood healthcare, must not be a casualty in the effort to address the harms that PBMs have inflicted."
Matt Phipps, an analyst at William Blair, said he largely views the White House announcements as a way to relieve the pressure placed on large pharmaceutical companies, following a recent trend by Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers to offer therapies for cash paying patients at meaningful discounts to the list prices that likely do not differ much from the current net price.
"Whether companies will need to specifically provide this option through TrumpRx.gov or their own programs like LillyDirect or BMS Patient Connect remains to be seen, and how these newly disclosed prices might impact VA or Medicaid pricing, among other questions, are outstanding," Phipps wrote in an analyst note.
After Bristol Myers announced Sotyktu would be added to the BMS Patient Connect platform, "it was emphasized that this would only apply to a small percentage of patients who would opt for cash pay discounts over coverage through their insurance as the price of these medicines likely still exceeds co-pays and out-of-pocket maximums," Phipps wrote.
A number of pharma companies have launched DTC platforms paring down the prices of popular medicines in the U.S. Novartis and Boehringer Ingelheim are falling in line with demands from Trump and joining the likes of AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb, both of which unveiled similar programs in recent days, Fierce Pharma Marketing reported this week.