Washington, Dec 18 || US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping prescription drug price cuts under a “Most Favoured Nation” policy has put India’s pharmaceutical industry in focus, as Washington moves to benchmark US drug prices against those paid in other countries.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday (local time), Trump said his administration had negotiated sharp reductions in drug prices by directly confronting pharmaceutical companies and foreign governments, using trade pressure to force changes in global pricing.
“I negotiated directly with the drug companies and foreign nations, which were taking advantage of our country for many decades to slash prices on drugs and pharmaceuticals by as much as 400, 500, and even 600 per cent,” Trump said.
He said the policy, known as “Most Favoured Nation,” would reverse decades of rising drug costs in the United States.
“There has never been anything like this in the history of our country,” Trump said, adding that drug prices “have only gone up, but now they’ll be going down by numbers never conceived possible.