In a bold and personal move, US President Donald Trump has penned letters to the CEOs of 17 major pharmaceutical firms, demanding that they take immediate steps to slash drug prices for Americans. Amongthose contacted was Indian American Vasant Narasimhan, the MD and CEO of Novartis. Trump’s letters were revealed at a White House press briefing on July 31, 2025, by press secretary Karoline Leavitte, and gave the companies a hard deadline — September 29 — to match drug prices in the US with those in Europe and other advanced economies.
Leavitte emphasized that Americans currently pay more than three times the price for the same essential medications available abroad. “President Trump is putting an end to this injustice,” she said.
The letters laid out four non-negotiable demands: apply global price parity to Medicaid, ensure fair pricing for all new drug launches, reinvest international profits back into American healthcare, and make international benchmark prices available directly to consumers.
Trump’s message to each CEO was loud and clear: the era of American consumers bearing the brunt of global pharmaceutical pricing is over. If companies fail to meet these terms, the administration promises to use every legal and executive power available to enforce compliance.
Among the high-profile recipients was Vasant Narasimhan, who has led Switzerland-based Novartis since 2018. Though the company is headquartered in Basel, it earns a significant portion of its revenue from the US, particularly through federal programs like Medicaid.
To humanize the crisis, the White House read a heartfelt letter from an Ohio mother who struggles to afford her son’s insulin, despite working two jobs. Leavitte remarked, “This is about more than policy — it’s about people.”
In his letter, Trump criticized previous solutions for favoring corporate profits over families. He wrote that most proposals from pharmaceutical giants only offer empty promises and call for government subsidies.
Trump concluded by urging companies like Eli Lilly and others to adopt “most favored nation” pricing for all products, effective immediately. If the industry doesn’t act within 60 days, the administration vows to act decisively.
