U.S. President Donald Trump calls out Indian American Vasant Narasimhan, other big pharma CEOs to cut drug prices

The Hindu

16 hours ago

In a rare and direct move, U.S. President Donald Trump has personally written to 17 top pharmaceutical CEOs — including Indian American Vasant Narasimhan, MD and CEO of Novartis — demanding an urgent action to bring down skyrocketing drug prices in the United States.
The letters, signed by the President and disclosed at a White House briefing on Thursday (July 31, 2025), give companies time until September 29, 2025, to commit to offering Americans the same prices they charge in Europe and other developed nations. The announcement, delivered by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitte, marks a significant escalation in the administration's war on what it calls 'abusive drug pricing practices.'
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'For too long,' Ms. Leavitte told reporters, 'Americans have paid more than triple for the same life-saving medications compared to other countries. President Trump says this injustice ends now.'
The letter addressed to Dr. Narasimhan and his peers includes four binding demands: extend global parity pricing to Medicaid, apply fair pricing to new drugs, redirect overseas profits to American patients, and enable direct consumer purchases at internationally benchmarked prices.
Each letter was tailored but echoed the same urgent message: the days of global freeloading on American innovation are over.
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'This unacceptable burden on hardworking American families ends with my administration,' Mr. Trump wrote, warning companies that if they fail to comply, the White House will 'deploy every tool in our arsenal.'
Among the many recipients of these letters is Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan, a U.S.-trained physician who has led the Swiss pharmaceutical giant since 2018. While Novartis is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, it derives substantial revenue from U.S. patients and government programmes.
Behind the policy is a human story. During the briefing, Ms. Leavitte read a letter from a mother in Ohio who struggles to afford insulin for her son, even while working two jobs. 'This is about people,' she said. 'Families are being forced to choose between rent and medicine.'
In his letter, Mr. Trump said the unacceptable burden on hardworking American families ends with his administration. 'Most proposals the Trump administration has received to resolve this critical issue promised more of the same, shifting blame and requesting policy changes that would result in billions of dollars in handouts to industry,' he said.
'Moving forward, the only thing I will accept from drug manufacturers is a commitment that provides American families immediate relief from the vastly inflated drug prices and an end to the free ride of American innovation by European and other developed nations. Accordingly, I'm calling on Eli Lilly and Company and every manufacturer doing business in our great country to take the following actions within the next 60 days: extend the most favoured nation pricing to Medicaid; guarantee most favoured nation pricing for newly launched drugs; return increased revenues abroad to American patients and taxpayers; provide for direct purchasing at most favoured nation pricing,' Mr. Trump wrote.
(This article is published in an arrangement with 5WH.)