AbbVie has announced it will commit $100 billion in US research and development (R&D) and capital investments, including manufacturing, over the next decade (as reported on January 12, 2026).

In making the announcement, the company became the latest bio/pharmaceutical company to reach a deal with the US government over measures to lower US drug pricing in return for receiving certain tariffs exemptions amid increasing US-based capital investment.

Last July (July 2025), the Trump Administration sent letters to certain bio/pharmaceutical companies to outline the steps they must take to be in alignment with most-favored-nation drug pricing following the issuance of an Executive Order last May (May 2025) in which the Administration was seeking voluntary compliance with most-favored-nation drug pricing. The premise behind the Administration’s policy goal of most-favored-nation drug 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.

In addition to AbbVie, letters were sent to Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Roche’s Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck & Co., Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Regeneron, and Sanofi. Since then, the Trump Administration has struck individual deals with bio/pharmaceutical companies, which depending on the company, included specific measures on drug pricing, certain tariff exemptions, and a commitment by these companies for US-based capital investment. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, and Novo Nordisk were among the first companies in 2025 to reach individual agreements. Late last month (December 19, 2025), the Administration announced that it had reached deals with an additional nine companies: Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche’s Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck & Co., Novartis, and Sanofi, and J&J struck a deal earlier this month (January 2025).

AbbVie’s agreement, which addresses the President’s drug pricing priorities, was enabled by the Trump Administration providing exemption from tariffs and future price mandates and “the government’s continued efforts to ensure global prices reflect the full value of U.S. medical innovation,” said AbbVie in a January 12, 2026, statement.

Although further terms of this agreement remain confidential, AbbVie specified that it would provide low prices in Medicaid, the US government healthcare program for low-income individuals, while pledging $100 billion in U.S.-based research and development and capital investments, including manufacturing, over the next decade. AbbVie will also expand direct-to-patient offerings through TrumpRx, a US government direct-to-patient platform, which allows US-based patients to purchase certain medicines from companies at discounted prices. For AbbVie, that would include Humira (adalimumab) as well as Alphagan (brimonidine tartrate), Combigan (brimonidine/timolol), and Synthroid (levothyroxine).

Source: AbbVie