White House to announce drug pricing deal with Regeneron

By Sriparna Roy

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - The White House will announce a drug pricing deal with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN.O at an event on Thursday afternoon, White House press ⁠secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

Regeneron is the last among 17 large pharmaceutical companies left to sign a deal after receiving letters from President Donald Trump in July.

The company told Reuters the announcement will be at the event. Its shares were up more than 2% in morning trade.

Companies including Pfizer PFE.N, Eli Lilly LLY.N and Amgen AMGN.O have agreed to slash prices of their medicines for the government's Medicaid program for low-income people and for cash payers, in Trump's bid to align U.S. costs with those in other wealthy nations.

U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay elsewhere.

Regeneron has agreed to reduce Medicaid prices for its current and future medications, according to news outlet NOTUS, which reported the development earlier in the day.

The drugmaker has also agreed to sell its cholesterol drug Praluent for $225, the report said citing a White House official, adding it will be listed on the direct-to-consumer website TrumpRx.

Regeneron also received approval for its gene therapy, branded as Otarmeni, for children with a rare type of hearing loss, branded as Otarmeni.

The therapy will be made available for free in the U.S., the company added.