WASHINGTON (AP) — AstraZeneca The company on Friday became the second major drug maker to say it has agreed to lower prescription drug costs for Medicaid in a deal with the Trump administration that avoids the threat of costly tariffs.
president donald trump He made the announcement in the Oval Office alongside AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, and said Trump and his team of officials had “absolutely no sleep at night” during the grueling negotiations that led to the deal.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will charge Medicaid most-favored-nation prices, while guaranteeing that price for new drugs, Trump said. This includes matching the lowest prices offered in other developed countries.
“For years, Americans have paid by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Trump said, adding that the new deal could bring prices “down to the lowest prices anywhere in the world. That’s what we’ll get.”
The AstraZeneca deal is based on a similar agreement. Pfizer announced Late last month. Advocates have generally praised the administration’s efforts to lower drug prices, but some have expressed concern that it places too much of a burden on manufacturers to cut costs without U.S. policy safeguards to ensure lower drug prices.
However, both agreements are built on presidential order President Trump signed a bill in May that sets a deadline for drug companies to selectively lower prices or impose new limits on how much the government pays. President Trump had suggested that a series of deals with drug companies would follow.
“Tariffs were a big reason why he came here,” Trump said of Soriot.
AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, England, manufactures a range of cancer drugs. The company’s products include the lung cancer drug Tagrisso. Lynparza, an oral ovarian cancer treatment, and Calquence, a chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment.
These drugs generated total sales of more than $7.5 billion in the United States last year.
AstraZeneca announced on Thursday that it would spend $4.5 billion on a new manufacturing plant near Charlottesville, Virginia, and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin cheered the start of construction on the new facility during an announcement from the Oval Office on Friday.
The drugmaker said the project is central to the $50 billion in investments it plans to make in the U.S. by 2030.
AstraZeneca said it plans to have total revenue of $80 billion by then, half of which will be generated in the United States.
President Trump predicted the investment could create 3,600 jobs in the country “for now.”
One of AstraZeneca’s drugs was already subject to price reductions due to the Medicare negotiation strategy implemented under President Biden. Still, Trump insisted that Democrats shouldn’t “get the credit” and suggested that key party leaders might try.
The announcement was made months ago. After AstraZeneca said It has withdrawn plans to expand its vaccine manufacturing plant in its home country. The company cited several factors, including cuts in government financial support.
The Trump administration has launched a new website landing page. TrumpRX.govOfficials say people will be able to buy medicines directly from manufacturers. Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca will provide medicines through the site, the administration said.
The website’s landing page features two very large photos of President Trump and a promise that the site will be “coming soon” in January 2026.
At the bottom of the page, it says the site is “designed in DC by National Design Studio.” The studio is a new government website design hub created by President Trump by executive order in August and is led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia.
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Associated Press writers Tom Murphy and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
