US big pharma outlines initiatives including direct access website by January, as tariff deadline looms
Breaking its perceived public silence on tariffs, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s (PhRMA) vocal commitment now, comes against the backdrop of a high decibel cross-country discussions on medicine prices.
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Drugmakers in the US have come out loud and clear outlining actions, including a website for direct access to manufacturers for purchases and patient assistance resources, as early as January 2026 – a public commitment to “American patients and workers”.
Breaking its perceived public silence on tariffs, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s (PhRMA) vocal commitment now, comes against the backdrop of a high decibel cross-country discussions on medicine prices. More importantly, it comes in the nick of time as US President Donald Trump’s dateline for a possible tariff announcement — 100 per cent tariffs on drugmakers importing medicines into the US — comes up on October 1.
“PhRMA member companies are making historic investments in US-based manufacturing and infrastructure, providing financial assistance to millions of insured and underinsured patients who have been failed by a broken health insurance system, and announcing a new website that will simplify access to manufacturer direct purchase and patient assistance resources,” the platform representing big pharma said.
Stephen J Ubl, PhRMA President and Chief Executive, said that they were “answering President Trump’s call to put America first by strengthening America’s leadership, improving access for patients and supporting good-paying jobs.” Parallelly, he called on policymakers “to protect innovation, fix the broken insurance system that burdens patients with high out-of-pocket costs, and ensure foreign governments pay their fair share.”
$500 billion investment in US-based infra
Outlining three initiatives from the industry, PhRMA said, they were delivering $500 billion in new US-based infrastructure investments. These investments will generate “an estimated $1.2 trillion in economic output and create 100,000+ new jobs including 25,000 biopharmaceutical jobs,” it said.
The platform attributed these initiatives to President Trump’s efforts “to enact comprehensive tax reform and streamline federal regulations helped enable these investments, which depend on the US maintaining a supportive and predictable policy and regulatory environment without new government price controls and tariffs. Imposing new tariffs on medicines would undermine new US investments because every dollar spent on a tariff is a dollar not available to build in America or discover cures.”
Pointing to a “broken health insurance system,” it said, “too many Americans face barriers to accessing their medicines with patients facing rising out-of-pocket costs and insurers excluding more medicines from formularies.”
According to a new survey, PhRMA member companies help 10 million patients annually through patient assistance and co-pay support programs where patients can get their medicine for free, nearly free or receive financial support to cover burdensome cost-sharing requirements, it said. “For two decades, PhRMA has been helping connect patients, caregivers and health care providers to manufacturer support including through the Medicine Assistance Tool (MAT.org), featuring more than 750 resources,” it added.
And in a new move that aims to slice out middle-men, it said, the AmericasMedicines.com website that will connect patients with manufacturer direct purchase programs. “There is growing recognition that PBMs and other middlemen receive massive rebates on medicines while charging patients the full price and putting up barriers to access. This is why President Trump called on companies to let patients and employers purchase medicines directly – and at a lower cost,” Phrma said, adding that some manufacturers are responding by offering new direct purchase programs that are more convenient and can save patients time and money – “no hidden markups or fees and transparent pricing for patients and businesses.”
The website will allow manufacturers to list a wide range of medicines and connect patients directly to available options prescribed by their doctor, PhRMA said.
“Other countries continue to undervalue medical innovation, while middlemen here at home collect half of every dollar spent on brand medicines. These imbalances drive up costs for everyone. To reduce price differentials with other wealthy countries, policymakers should require PBMs to share savings with patients, fix the 340B hospital markup program and force foreign governments to pay their fair share,” it said. In the past, President Trump has spoken about bringing in “most favoured nation” pricing – to bring innovative medicine prices on part with that in other wealthy countries.
The situation remains fluid for drugmakers in India, as the US administration’s tariff-related statements till date have pointed to patent-protected innovative drugs. No statement has been made on generic drugs, that account for a lion’s share of India’s about $ 10 billion export of medicines to the US. Large domestic drugmakers have in the past articulated the savings that have been delivered to US patients, thanks to generic drug imports. Large Indian drugmakers have meanwhile, looked to bolster their manufacturing presence in the US.
Published on September 30, 2025
