AstraZeneca has agreed to sell some of its medicines at discounted rates to the U.S. Medicaid program in exchange for tariff relief, following a model similar to Pfizer’s recent deal with Donald Trump’s administration.
Announcing the agreement from the Oval Office, Trump described it as part of his “most-favored-nation” pricing plan to lower prescription costs, saying Americans would soon pay “the lowest price anywhere in the world.”
Under the deal, AstraZeneca will match the lowest prices offered for its drugs in other developed nations when selling to Medicaid and guarantee similar pricing for new products. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who attended the announcement, said the talks had been “tough,” joking that Trump’s team had “kept me up at night.”
More than 70 million low-income Americans are covered by Medicaid, which already receives the lowest prices on drugs in the U.S. Experts said the new savings would likely be modest.
“This deal will not significantly lower costs for Americans struggling with prescription affordability,” said Rena Conti, a health policy expert at Boston University.
Trump had previously threatened 100% tariffs on drugmakers to force price reductions and domestic production. AstraZeneca’s agreement could shield it from those penalties while aligning with the administration’s push to show progress on healthcare costs ahead of the 2026 election.
