North Chicago-based AbbVie has become the latest drugmaker to reach a deal with the Trump administration on drug prices in exchange for being exempted from tariffs and future price mandates, the company announced Monday evening.
Under the voluntary agreement, AbbVie will offer “low prices” in Medicaid, a state and federally funded health insurance program for people with low incomes and disabilities, the company said in a news release. AbbVie will also invest $100 billion in U.S.-based research, development and building, including for manufacturing, over the next decade, according to the release.
It will also sell more medications directly to consumers through TrumpRx. TrumpRx is to be an online platform that will allow people to buy medications directly from manufacturers, according to the Associated Press.
The deal “was enabled by the Trump administration providing exemption from tariffs and future price mandates,” AbbVie said in its news release.
“AbbVie is following President Trump’s call to action by reaching this agreement, allowing us to collectively move beyond policies that harm American innovation,” said Robert A. Michael, chairman and CEO at AbbVie in the news release.
AbbVie plans to offer medications including Humira, Alphagan, Synthroid and Combigan on TrumpRx.
In recent months, the Trump administration has announced more than a dozen similar deals with drugmakers, including Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi.
The agreements follow an executive order issued by Trump in May that sought to bring most-favored-nation pricing on medications to Americans. Most-favored-nation pricing refers to lower prices charged for the same medications in other economically-comparable countries. Throughout last year, Trump threatened to impose large tariffs on pharmaceutical companies.
Earlier on Monday, AbbVie announced plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing by acquiring a facility in Arizona. The company also announced last year that it would construct a new $195 million facility near its headquarters in North Chicago.
AbbVie spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and has about 29,000 employees in the U.S. The company is known for medications including Humira, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other conditions, as well as the drugs Skyrizi, which treats plaque psoriasis, and Rinvoq for rheumatoid arthritis.
