(Jan 13): AbbVie Inc signed an agreement with the US government to lower some drug prices and invest US$100 billion domestically in exchange for an exemption from certain tariffs.
The Trump administration has been using the threat of heavy tariffs to convince major drugmakers to increase their presence in the US, provide drugs more cheaply to Medicaid, sell less expensive drugs directly to patients and set prices abroad at least as high as in the US. AbbVie’s agreement “addresses” all four of these, the company said in a press release Monday (Jan 12).
Trump sent letters to 17 drugmakers in July, urging them to make the changes. Every company except Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc has signed a deal, according to publicly available information.
AbbVie will invest the US$100 billion in US research, development and capital investments, including manufacturing, over the next decade. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how the funds would be specifically used.
AbbVie will also lower prices in the Medicaid programme and offer some drugs directly to patients through a Trump-branded website, TrumpRx, according to the release.
In exchange, AbbVie will be exempt from tariffs and “future price mandates”, the company said.
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