A bevy of news on the US drug pricing front: the debut of TrumpRx, a direct-to-patient drug purchasing channel, continued policy moves to most favored drug nation pricing, reforms of PBMs, and the latest in IRA.

By Patricia Van Arnum, Editorial Director, DCAT, pvanarnum@dcat.org

The latest: most-favored drug pricing
This week (February 5, 2026), the White House announced the launch of TrumpRx.gov, a direct-to-patient platform, which allows US-based patients to purchase select prescription drugs from certain bio/pharmaceutical companies that had reached drug-pricing agreements with the Trump Administration in line with most-favored-nation (MFN) drug pricing. The premise behind MFN pricing is that the US pays higher prescription drug costs comparative to other developed countries and therefore assumes a larger share of the costs of drugs and that measures should be taken to reduce the differential in the prices of prescription drugs in the US compared to other developed countries, where prescription drug prices are lower.

The launch of TrumpRx.gov features over 40 drugs made by the first five manufacturers to reach MFN pricing deals with the Trump Administration: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, and Company, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer. In all, 16 bio/pharmaceutical companies reached MFN drug pricing deals with the Administration in 2025 and 2026 to date, which included AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, EMD Serono, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Roche’s Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck & Co., Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, and Sanofi. Additional drugs from other companies that have signed MFN pricing deals will be made available through TrumpRx.gov in the coming months (as reported on February 5, 2026), according to the White House.

The TrumpRx website lists discounted drug pricing from manufacturers that have agreed to MFN drug pricing for certain drugs, whereby individuals can use TrumpRx to purchase drugs in cash (outside of their insurance). The TrumpRx website displays discounted drug pricing offers but does not sell or dispense drugs. These drugs can be obtained at participating pharmacies using coupon cards displayed on TrumpRx or directly through manufacturers’ websites. Some examples of prescription drugs listed on TrumpRx are Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic/Wegovy (semaglutide) for treating Type 2 diabetes and obesity, Lilly’s obesity drug, Zepbound (tirzepatide), AstraZeneca’s Farixga (dapagliflozin) for treating Type 2 diabetes, and EMD Serono’s Gonal-f (follitropin alfa), a fertility treatment.

The individual company MFN pricing deals is a targeted vehicle in the Administration’s larger policy goal for MFN pricing in the US. Last month (January 2026), President Donald Trump issued a proposal, dubbed the Great Healthcare Plan, as a means to lower drug prices, reduce health insurance premiums, and increase price transparency in the US healthcare system. Without providing specifics, the plan calls on Congress to codify MFN pricing into law.

Another drug-pricing measure: pharmacy benefit managers
Other US drug pricing news relates to new requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), which manage prescription drug benefits for health insurers, employers, and other payers and act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacies, and health plans. Earlier this week (February 3, 2026), President Trump signed a US government funding package, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, which provided full-year funding for the US federal government through the end of the year and also included reforms relating to PBMs, a move that was welcomed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents innovator drug companies in the US.

“We applaud the broad, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who came together to pass meaningful PBM reform,” said Stephen J. Ubl, President and CEO of PhRMA, in a February 3, 2026, statement. “These reforms are a win for patients, pharmacists, providers and employers who have urged Washington to hold PBMs accountable.”

A key point of criticism of PBMs by the pharmaceutical industry is that prices used by PBMs are based on list prices and do not reflect the rebates, discounts, and other price concessions from pharmaceutical companies and these savings are not passed onto consumers and that is a large contributor to higher prescription drug costs in the US. The new law prohibits PBMs from linking their payments to drug prices in Medicare, the US government healthcare program for individuals aged 65 or older. In addition, the law requires PBMs to pass through 100% of rebates to employer-sponsored insurance plans. Additionally, the law requires PBMs to submit a report by July 1^st each year (beginning in 2028) disclosing a list of all drugs covered by a plan provided by the PBM. Finally, the new law allows PBMs to be audited yearly, at the request of the drug manufacturer, to ensure compliance and transparency.

Continuing the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Program
Another piece of drug-pricing reform in the US is the continuation of the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Program, which was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. That law, for the first time ever, authorizes and requires the US government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies prices for certain prescription drugs under Medicare, the US federal health insurance program for people 65 or older.

Under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directly negotiates with pharmaceutical companies the prices of certain high-expenditure (defined by levels of Medicare spending) and single-source drugs without generic or biosimilar competition. Last month (January 2026), CMS announced the selection of 15 prescription drugs that are the latest drugs subject to price negotiations under the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Program. The 15 drugs selected by CMS represent the third round of drugs selected for price negotiations. The US government will now negotiate the prices of these drugs directly with pharmaceutical companies, with the negotiated prices, once agreed to, effective January 1, 2028. In all, 40 prescription drugs have been subject to price negotiations under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program since IRA was enacted in 2022—the 15 drugs selected last month (January 2026) for negotiation, and 25 drugs for which the prices have already been negotiated and going into effect this year (2026) and next year (2027).