The office building of international biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
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President Donald Trump has been pressuring pharmaceutical companies to lower U.S. drug costs, and it may be starting to work – at least on AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca has proposed price cuts to certain drugs in the U.S., its CEO Pascal Soriot told reporters on Tuesday, after the company’s second-quarter revenue and earnings topped estimates.
“We have made proposals of what we as a company believe could be done, which would actually entail rebalancing pricing with a reduction in the U.S.,” Soriot said, while also noting that pricing dynamics in the country are “very complicated” and lack transparency.
He said the Trump administration is reviewing the company’s proposals, but did not specify which treatments it included. AstraZeneca appears to be among the first drugmakers to reveal that it has floated price cuts to the Trump administration.
“I do believe a rebalancing of pricing around the world is necessary. The U.S. can no longer pay for the R&D of the world,” Pascal said.
“We definitely support the idea of rebalancing with some reduction of pricing levels in the U.S., and some increase, we’re not talking about massive increases, in Europe,” he continued.
The company previously set a goal of achieving $80 billion in sales by the end of the decade, with 50% of that, or roughly $40 billion, slated to come from the U.S.
Why now?
Soriot’s comments come two months after Trump signed a sweeping executive order that aims to renew a plan to lower U.S. drug costs by linking prices to significantly lower ones in other developed countries. Trump has described the effort – called the “most favored nation” policy – as “equalizing” prices.
We also can’t forget the president’s planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S., which could happen any day now and have sprawling consequences for drugmakers and patients. The levies aim to boost domestic drug manufacturing, even after AstraZeneca and other companies have announced billions of dollars in new U.S. investments in recent months.
AstraZeneca last week said it plans to invest $50 billion in bolstering its U.S. manufacturing and research capabilities by 2030, which includes new sites and expansions of previous investments.
Also on Tuesday, Soriot said he expects all of AstraZeneca’s medicines for U.S. patients to be produced locally within a few months.
He added that the company is considering selling some drugs to patients directly – a move that companies like Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb have adopted as patients struggle to afford drugs in the U.S.
“We want to behave in the U.S. as a U.S. company,” Soriot said.
But he added that the U.K.-based AstraZeneca is “committed” to its home country, which comes amid reports that the company is considering shifting its listing stateside.
Pascal declined to comment on the rumors on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.
Latest in health-care tech: Doximity enters competitive AI scribing market with new free offering
Doximity announced a new tool last week called Doximity Scribe, a free artificial intelligence-powered documentation solution that aims to help clinicians reduce the time they spend on paperwork.
The company is the latest to dive into the fiercely competitive AI scribing market, which has taken off as health-care executives search for ways to reduce staff burnout and daunting administrative workloads.
Like other tools on the market, Doximity Scribe uses AI to draft clinical notes in real time as doctors record their visits with patient permission. But by offering the tool for free, Doximity is taking a different approach than its competitors like Microsoft, Abridge and others.
“Comparable scribe services can cost hundreds of dollars per user per month,” Doximity said in a release. “We believe powerful tools like this should be accessible to all clinicians, not just those with the budgets.”
Doximity is a digital platform for medical professionals that helps clinicians stay current on medical news, manage paperwork, find referrals and carry out telehealth appointments with patients. The company primarily generates revenue through its hiring solutions and marketing offerings for clients such as pharmaceutical companies.
In addition to Doximity Scribe, the company also offers clinicians an AI tool called Doximity GPT and a video and telehealth platform called Doximity Dialer for free. In other words, it’s followed this playbook before.
But while the free offering will likely entice many clinicians, it may not turn the market on its head just yet.
Several other players in the space, including both Microsoft and Abridge, can support deep integrations with electronic health record vendors, while Doximity Scribe is starting with a beta integration with its own product, Doximity Dialer. Similarly, Doximity users can choose between structured templates or freeform notes, but other vendors offer support specific to a provider’s specialty, as well as additional features for coding and billing.
As a result, large, complex health systems will likely still be willing to pay for AI scribes, at least for now.
Doximity said it will roll out its scribe in the coming months, and clinicians can sign up for early access.
Read the full announcement here.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.
