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 will minimize the price of the bottom doses of their standard medication to $149 for a month’s provide, sources aware of the matter informed The Wall Avenue 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 may join customers instantly with drug producers to buy discounted prescribed drugs with out insurance coverage.
Underneath 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 informed the Journal.
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A Novo Nordisk spokesperson informed FOX Enterprise the corporate “is engaged in constructive discussions with the administration concerning the Most Favored Nation government order,” which is geared toward reducing U.S. drug costs by requiring that Medicare pay no extra for sure prescribed drugs than the bottom worth paid by different developed nations.
Wegovy injection pens organized in Waterbury, Vt., April 28, 2025. (Shelby Knowles/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
“We stay centered on bettering affected person entry and affordability, and we are going to proceed to work to seek out options that assist folks entry the medicine they want,” the spokesperson mentioned. Novo Nordisk didn’t touch upon the actual deal.
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Eli Lilly informed FOX Enterprise it’s also in discussions with the administration “to additional develop affected person entry, protect innovation and promote the affordability of our medicines.” It declined to supply particular particulars in regards to the dialogue.
Nonetheless, the sources mentioned President Donald Trump might 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 belongings equivalent to money and gold on the Hamburg Customs Investigation Workplace April 17, 2025. (Marcus Brandt/image alliance by way of 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 mentioned the president has beforehand famous that this has been a giant precedence for the administration.
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“I will not get forward of the president on any future bulletins, however I’ll echo his sturdy dedication to bringing down drug costs on this nation,” Leavitt mentioned. “And you’ve got heard it instantly from Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Marty McCaffrey and his total Well being and Human Companies workforce how dedicated the president is to bringing down the price of medication.”
She additionally mentioned the administration has been working with the “pharmaceutical firms to do this on daily basis.”
Injection pens for the burden loss remedy Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk A/S, on show throughout a information convention in Mumbai, India, June 24, 2025. (Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Each firms have already launched their very own direct-to-consumer platforms geared 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 worth 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 instantly from Eli Lilly with out going via insurance coverage.
