White House unveils ‘TrumpRX’ drug-buying website, announces Pfizer lowering prices in US
WASHINGTON — President Trump unveiled plans Tuesday for a new website that will allow Americans to buy prescription drugs directly from their manufacturers — potentially lowering out-of-pocket costs, though details remain murky.
Trump, 79, announced the planned “TrumpRx” website, due to launch in early 2026, alongside Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the Oval Office.
Pfizer partnered on the initiative as part of a broader deal with the Trump administration to lower the rate that the federal government pays for drugs through Medicare.
Many aspects of the ambitious plan intended to equalize drug costs between the US and other major Western countries remain unclear.
It is not known, for example, what companies in addition to Pfizer may join the initiative before it launches.
It’s also not certain what benefits, if any, would flow to customers with private insurance, who comprise about two-thirds of the US population.
“I think it’s one of the biggest things that we’ll do. We’ll be reducing drug prices by 100% in some cases, 300% or more,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House ahead of the announcement.
“Pfizer is committing to offer all of their prescription medications to Medicaid, and it will be at the most favored nation prices,” the president said moments later in the Oval Office. “It’s going to have a huge impact on bringing Medicaid costs down, like nothing else.”
Most favored nation (MFN) prices are calculated by taking US consumer prices and comparing them against eight other wealthy countries (Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Denmark and Switzerland).
The final price then gets negotiated with the US market in mind, in theory resulting in a near-perfect equalization of the price Americans and foreigners pay.
For the TrumpRx website, Pfizer agreed to provide some of their popular medications at discounted rates of between 50 and 100%, and all new medications announced will be offered in the US at the most favored nation rate, Trump said.
Medications that will available on TrumpRx include Xeljanz for rheumatoid arthritis (40% discount), Zavzpret for migraines (50%), Eucrisa for dermatitis (80%), and Duavee for female osteoporosis (85%).
The savings for people without insurance are potentially massive.
Xeljanz, for example, has a retail list price of about $6,073 for a 30-day supply for uninsured customers, according to Pfizer’s website, meaning the TrumpRX platform could save uninsured users more than $36,000 per year.
However, for the same drug, 87% of Americans with commercial insurance, 100% of Medicaid users, and 78% of seniors with Medicare Part D already have a copay of between $0 and $20, meaning the government site wouldn’t save most customers money.
Still, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lavished praise on Trump for the announcement, which he said would be remembered as a critical moment in American history.
“Never has a president stood up so bravely for the American people with respect to health care,” Kennedy said.
Bourla, the Pfizer chief executive, “looks very calm up here and cat-like, but he’s ferocious when you get him in a negotiating room,” added Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Pfizer additionally committed Tuesday to invest $70 billion in bringing manufacturing facilities back into the US, as well as research and development, the White House said.
“It’s an historic day, because I think today we are turning the tide, and we are reversing an unfair situation,” Bourla said in the Oval Office alongside Trump, who pushed in his first term for a MFN drug-price reduction for America, before the COVID-19 pandemic and his re-election loss ended the initiative.
Bourla directly credited concern about potential Trump tariffs, saying that “the president is absolutely right, tariffs is the most powerful tool to motivate behaviors.” He said his company will gain a three-year exemption from potential tariffs as part of the deal.
Medicare Director Chris Klomp said the forthcoming website will provide consumers “direct access” from drugmakers and will also have pricing and “at lower prices than currently available.”
“This is bypassing middlemen. It increases transparency. In many instances, prices are 80% lower than they are today,” Klomp said.
Trump lambasted foreign countries for “taking advantage” of the US on drug prices in his announcement and was heavily involved in getting the Pfizer deal through, Kennedy stressed.
The president “harangued and harassed us” to finish the deal, Kennedy said, adding that “at one point, [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator] Dr. [Mehmet] Oz told me, ‘I can’t take the president’s calls anymore,’” Kennedy said.
“President Trump is doing more to lower healthcare costs than anyone else in Washington, D.C.,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
“While Democrats are threatening to shut down the federal government to subsidize health care for illegal aliens, President Trump is leveraging the power of the federal government to drastically cut drug prices for everyday Americans. Democrats talked the talk for decades about drug prices, but only President Trump is actually walking the walk.”
The drug announcement comes one day before Trump’s deadline for pharmaceutical companies to move their manufacturing operations to the US — or face a 100% tariff.
“Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
Companies already building manufacturing sites in the US will not be subjected to the tariff.
The tariff will most likely impact smaller pharma companies who do not have facilities in the US, while larger ones may be spared.
Companies like Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Merck, AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk already have manufacturing plants in the US.
