President Donald Trump has repeatedly mentioned his offers with drugmakers would deliver down prescription drug costs within the U.S. However a report launched by Senate Democrats finds costs have continued to climb — in some circumstances, sharply.
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The report — launched Thursday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the rating member on the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee, forward of a listening to centered on drug costs — discovered that firms that signed drug pricing offers with Trump have raised the price of a whole lot of medicines and launched new ones at a mean value of $353,000 a 12 months.
The value hikes embody costly gene therapies, most cancers drugs and a number of sclerosis medication.
The report additionally mentioned the businesses that signed offers with Trump have made big income throughout his second time period in workplace. In 2025, the businesses made a mixed $177 billion in income, up from $107 billion the 12 months earlier than.
It comes as Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is about to testify Thursday in back-to-back hearings on Trump’s price range, first earlier than the Home Methods and Means Committee and later earlier than the Home Appropriations well being panel. He’s more likely to face questions on Trump’s priorities, together with decreasing prescription drug prices.
The findings increase questions on whether or not the administration’s “most favored nation” offers — which Trump mentioned would decrease U.S. drug costs to match these in different rich international locations the place medication are sometimes far cheaper — are having a significant affect on sufferers. The offers with the drugmakers have been publicized by the White Home, however particulars stay scant. It’s unclear whether or not the medication talked about within the new report have been part of the offers, although the entire drugmakers included have been.
“One of many extra irritating elements of current drug pricing bulletins has been the dearth of transparency into the so-called offers which can be being made by the administration,” mentioned Stacie Dusetzina, a well being coverage professor at Vanderbilt College in Nashville, Tennessee. “In truth, when you dig into the main points, it seems that the administration’s efforts thus far have largely served to assist drug firms.”
In an emailed assertion, White Home spokesperson Kush Desai mentioned Sanders’ report “fixates on prescription drug listing costs, that are meaningless as a result of they don’t replicate the precise buy costs that sufferers pay on the pharmacy counter.”
As part of the offers, drugmakers agreed to supply a few of their merchandise for a reduced value for individuals paying with money, not insurance coverage, on TrumpRx.gov, a reduction prescription drug platform. Most of the reductions are the identical as these discovered on GoodRx, one other low cost website.
These reductions are separate from the listing costs. And whereas individuals hardly ever pay the listing value for a drug, a better listing value means drugmakers can cost insurance coverage extra.
The brand new report pointed to a number of blockbuster medication that noticed listing value hikes whilst firms have been negotiating or signing offers with Trump.
For instance, the listing value of Keytruda, a extensively used most cancers remedy made by Merck, rose by 6% to about $210,000 a 12 months within the U.S., far increased than costs in international locations like Japan ($37,900) and France ($88,100), in accordance with the report.
Novartis’ Kesimpta, a a number of sclerosis drug, elevated by almost $10,500 to $141,000 a 12 months, in accordance with the report. The annual value of Kesimpta in Germany is $17,300 and the yearly value in Canada is $23,500.
The annual listing value of Opdivo, Bristol Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy, rose 4% to $260,000, greater than double the worth in different international locations, together with France ($90,300) and the UK ($113,000).
Merck, Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Antonio Ciaccia, the CEO of 46brooklyn, a nonprofit group that tracks drug pricing within the U.S., mentioned it’s been clear that the businesses that signed offers with Trump didn’t conform to decrease costs throughout their whole portfolio.
For lots of the medication not included within the offers, it’s been “enterprise as typical and this 12 months isn’t any completely different,” he mentioned.
He added that whereas common brand-name listing costs declined in 2026 for the primary time, that shift was largely pushed by insurance policies from the Biden administration, together with Medicare drug pricing negotiations.
The report additionally discovered that firms that negotiated offers with Trump launched new drugs, lots of them most cancers medication, with six- to seven-digit value tags.
In accordance with the report, Johnson & Johnson’s most cancers drug Inlexzo launched at a value of about $1 million; AbbVie’s most cancers drug Emrelis is about $719,000; and AstraZeneca’s Datroway is about $419,000.
Novartis’ Itvisma, a one-time gene remedy for spinal muscular atrophy, has an inventory value of about $2.59 million. One other gene remedy from Novartis — Zolgensma, for spinal muscular atrophy — elevated by almost $200,000 to greater than $2.5 million for a single course of remedy, in accordance with the report.
Pfizer elevated the worth of its lung most cancers drug Vizimpro by about 5% to about $208,000 a 12 months, in accordance with the report.
Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Pfizer didn’t reply to a request for remark. AbbVie declined to remark.
