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The Advertiser
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Trump order demands US medicine industry cuts prices
US President Donald Trump has signed a wide-reaching executive order directing drug makers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts say could be difficult to implement. The order gives drug makers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. Investors were sceptical about the order's implementation, and shares -which had been down overnight on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing - recovered and rose in early morning trade on Monday. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed countries. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items, from eggs to petrol. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight loss injection for $US88 ($A138) in London and that the same injection in the US cost $US1300. If drug makers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rule making to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed countries and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are other "countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients". The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drug makers. "We're all familiar with some of the places where pharmaceutical companies push the limits to prevent competition that would lower their prices," one White House official said, pointing to patent protections and deals drug makers make with generic companies to hold off on cheaper copies. The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim said. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. The FTC has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," FTC spokesman Joe Simonson said. The executive order differed from what drug makers had been expecting. Four lobbyist sources told Reuters they were expecting an executive order that called for "most favoured nation" pricing on a subset of Medicare drugs. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The White House officials did not specify any targets. Trump's order also directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences. US President Donald Trump has signed a wide-reaching executive order directing drug makers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts say could be difficult to implement. The order gives drug makers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. Investors were sceptical about the order's implementation, and shares -which had been down overnight on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing - recovered and rose in early morning trade on Monday. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed countries. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items, from eggs to petrol. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight loss injection for $US88 ($A138) in London and that the same injection in the US cost $US1300. If drug makers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rule making to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed countries and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are other "countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients". The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drug makers. "We're all familiar with some of the places where pharmaceutical companies push the limits to prevent competition that would lower their prices," one White House official said, pointing to patent protections and deals drug makers make with generic companies to hold off on cheaper copies. The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim said. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. The FTC has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," FTC spokesman Joe Simonson said. The executive order differed from what drug makers had been expecting. Four lobbyist sources told Reuters they were expecting an executive order that called for "most favoured nation" pricing on a subset of Medicare drugs. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The White House officials did not specify any targets. Trump's order also directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences. US President Donald Trump has signed a wide-reaching executive order directing drug makers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts say could be difficult to implement. The order gives drug makers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. Investors were sceptical about the order's implementation, and shares -which had been down overnight on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing - recovered and rose in early morning trade on Monday. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed countries. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items, from eggs to petrol. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight loss injection for $US88 ($A138) in London and that the same injection in the US cost $US1300. If drug makers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rule making to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed countries and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are other "countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients". The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drug makers. "We're all familiar with some of the places where pharmaceutical companies push the limits to prevent competition that would lower their prices," one White House official said, pointing to patent protections and deals drug makers make with generic companies to hold off on cheaper copies. The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim said. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. The FTC has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," FTC spokesman Joe Simonson said. The executive order differed from what drug makers had been expecting. Four lobbyist sources told Reuters they were expecting an executive order that called for "most favoured nation" pricing on a subset of Medicare drugs. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The White House officials did not specify any targets. Trump's order also directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences. US President Donald Trump has signed a wide-reaching executive order directing drug makers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts say could be difficult to implement. The order gives drug makers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. Investors were sceptical about the order's implementation, and shares -which had been down overnight on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing - recovered and rose in early morning trade on Monday. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed countries. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items, from eggs to petrol. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight loss injection for $US88 ($A138) in London and that the same injection in the US cost $US1300. If drug makers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rule making to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed countries and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are other "countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients". The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drug makers. "We're all familiar with some of the places where pharmaceutical companies push the limits to prevent competition that would lower their prices," one White House official said, pointing to patent protections and deals drug makers make with generic companies to hold off on cheaper copies. The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim said. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. The FTC has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," FTC spokesman Joe Simonson said. The executive order differed from what drug makers had been expecting. Four lobbyist sources told Reuters they were expecting an executive order that called for "most favoured nation" pricing on a subset of Medicare drugs. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The White House officials did not specify any targets. Trump's order also directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences.
NDTV
13-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
"Everybody Should Pay Same": Inside Trump's Order To Slash Drug Prices In US
Washington: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing pharmaceutical companies to slash drug prices so they match those abroad. The order gives a 30-day deadline to drugmakers to achieve price targets, with Trump saying he will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" toward those goals. Trump said he's seeking to cut drug prices by at least 59 per cent -- and in some cases as high as 80 or 90 per cent through the wide-ranging order. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," the President said. He also accused the European Union of "brutal" tactics to make pharmaceutical firms sell drugs for lower prices on their territory -- meaning companies then raise prices in the United States to keep their profits up. "Whoever is paying the lowest price, that's the price that we're going to get," Trump said. As part of his plan, the US aims to institute a "Most Favoured Nation" policy that pins the cost of drugs sold in the United States to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug. "Even though the United States is home to only 4 per cent of the world's population, pharmaceutical companies make more than two-thirds of their profits in America," Trump said. "The European Union has been brutal, brutal. And the drug companies actually told me stories, it was just brutal, how they forced them," the Republican added. He further claimed that American consumers had been treated like "suckers" and cited in particular the costs of the obesity-reducing drug Ozempic, which he said were vastly lower in Europe. He said during a conversation with an unnamed friend, he came to know the weight-loss injection cost $88 in London and that the same medicine in the US costs $1,300. Issue Of Drug Prices In the US Among developed nations, the United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, which are often nearly three times more than in other countries. In her first term as well, Trump had tried to bring the US in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. However, the plan mainly relies on the goodwill of pharmaceutical companies to negotiate their prices and can again face legal challenges, similar to his first term. The proposal comes as the president seeks to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items for Americans, from eggs to gas for their cars. What Trump's Order Said If drugmakers do not meet the government's expectations, the Trump administration will use rulemaking to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed nations and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. The order also directed the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also directed the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drugmakers. Will It Work? The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim to news agency Reuters. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. However, Lawrence Gostin, a professor of health law at Georgetown Law, believes such challenges are likely months away and will come after the Trump administration takes more concrete action to force companies to lower prices instead of the 'scattershot threats' included in the executive order. 'At the point when there are actual consequences and we know what they are, and when companies feel that they have to lower the price of their drugs, at that point we're going to have a flood of litigation,' Gostin told Reuters. The Federal Trade Commission has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against drugmakers and other healthcare companies. Trump last month ordered the FTC to coordinate with other federal agencies to hold listening sessions on anticompetitive practices in the drug industry. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," said FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson.
AsiaOne
13-05-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
Trump executive order demands pharma industry price cuts , World News
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump signed a wide-reaching executive order on Monday (May 12) directing drugmakers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts said would be difficult to implement. The order gives drugmakers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" toward those goals. The order was not as bad as feared, investors, analysts and drug pricing experts said, and they questioned how it would be implemented. Shares of drugmakers, which had been down on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing, recovered and rose on Monday. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed nations. Trump tried in his first term to bring the US in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items for Americans, from eggs to gas for their cars. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight-loss injection for US$88 (S$114) in London and that the same medicine in the US cost US$1,300. If drugmakers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rulemaking to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed nations and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trump's order directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programmes that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical companies decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," Stephen Ubl, CEO of industry trade group PhRMA, said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are "foreign countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients." The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practises by drugmakers. During a briefing, a White House official pointed to tactics the pharmaceutical industry uses to prevent competition, such as deals with generic companies to delay market entry of cheaper alternatives, as enforcement targets. 'A flood of litigation' The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, said health policy lawyer Paul Kim. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows." Such challenges are likely months away, and will come after the Trump administration takes more concrete action to force companies to lower prices instead of the "scattershot threats" included in the executive order, according to Lawrence Gostin, a professor of health law at Georgetown Law. "At the point when there are actual consequences and we know what they are, and when companies feel that they have to lower the price of their drugs, at that point we're going to have a flood of litigation," Gostin said. The Federal Trade Commission has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against drugmakers and other healthcare companies. Trump last month ordered the FTC to coordinate with other federal agencies to hold listening sessions on anticompetitive practises in the drug industry. On Monday, Trump was expected to ask the FTC to consider taking enforcement action, sources said. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," said FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson. Shares of major drugmakers, after initially falling during premarket trading, rallied on Monday along with the broader market. Shares of Merck & Co closed up 5.8 per cent, while Pfizer gained 3.6 per cent and Gilead Sciences finished up 7.1 per cent. Eli Lilly, the world's largest drugmaker by market value, rose 2.9 per cent. Analysts said the order did not contain the kinds of detailed plans for price cuts that would raise concerns. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. Trump's order directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programmes that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [[nid:717923]]
West Australian
12-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Trump order demands US medicine industry cuts prices
US President Donald Trump has signed a wide-reaching executive order directing drug makers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts say could be difficult to implement. The order gives drug makers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. Investors were sceptical about the order's implementation, and shares -which had been down overnight on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing - recovered and rose in early morning trade on Monday. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed countries. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items, from eggs to petrol. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight loss injection for $US88 ($A138) in London and that the same injection in the US cost $US1300. If drug makers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rule making to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed countries and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are other "countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients". The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drug makers. "We're all familiar with some of the places where pharmaceutical companies push the limits to prevent competition that would lower their prices," one White House official said, pointing to patent protections and deals drug makers make with generic companies to hold off on cheaper copies. The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim said. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. The FTC has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," FTC spokesman Joe Simonson said. The executive order differed from what drug makers had been expecting. Four lobbyist sources told Reuters they were expecting an executive order that called for "most favoured nation" pricing on a subset of Medicare drugs. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The White House officials did not specify any targets. Trump's order also directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences.
Perth Now
12-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Trump order demands US medicine industry cuts prices
US President Donald Trump has signed a wide-reaching executive order directing drug makers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts say could be difficult to implement. The order gives drug makers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the US did not match those in other countries and said he was seeking cuts of between 59 per cent and 90 per cent. "Everybody should equalise. Everybody should pay the same price," Trump said. Investors were sceptical about the order's implementation, and shares -which had been down overnight on the threat of "most favoured nation" pricing - recovered and rose in early morning trade on Monday. The United States pays the highest prices for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than other developed countries. Trump tried in his first term to bring the United States in line with other countries but was blocked by the courts. Trump's drug pricing proposal comes as the president has sought to fulfil a campaign promise of tackling inflation and lowering prices for a host of everyday items, from eggs to petrol. Trump said his order on drug prices was partly a result of a conversation with an unnamed friend who told the president he got a weight loss injection for $US88 ($A138) in London and that the same injection in the US cost $US1300. If drug makers do not meet the government's expectations, it will use rule making to bring drug prices to international levels and consider a range of other measures, including importing medicines from other developed countries and implementing export restrictions, a copy of the order showed. Trade groups representing biotech and pharmaceutical decried the move. "Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardise the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. Ubl said the real reasons for high drug prices are other "countries not paying their fair share and middlemen driving up prices for US patients". The order also directs the US Federal Trade Commission to consider aggressive enforcement against what the government calls anti-competitive practices by drug makers. "We're all familiar with some of the places where pharmaceutical companies push the limits to prevent competition that would lower their prices," one White House official said, pointing to patent protections and deals drug makers make with generic companies to hold off on cheaper copies. The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, particularly for exceeding limits set by US law, including on imports of drugs from abroad, health policy lawyer Paul Kim said. "The order's suggestion of broader or direct-to-consumer importation stretches well beyond what the statute allows," Kim said. The FTC has a long history of antitrust enforcement actions against pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. "President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering drug costs and today he's doing just that. Americans are tired of getting ripped off. The Federal Trade Commission will be a proud partner in this new effort," FTC spokesman Joe Simonson said. The executive order differed from what drug makers had been expecting. Four lobbyist sources told Reuters they were expecting an executive order that called for "most favoured nation" pricing on a subset of Medicare drugs. "Implementing something like this is pretty challenging. He tried to do this before and it was stopped by the courts," said Evan Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. The White House officials did not specify any targets. Trump's order also directs the government to consider facilitating direct-to-consumer purchasing programs that would sell drugs at the prices other countries pay. It also orders the Secretary of Commerce and other agency heads to review and consider actions regarding the export of pharmaceutical drugs or ingredients that may contribute to price differences.
