Drug pricing

As third-quarter earnings continue to roll out, Novartis makes headlines with the second biggest acquisition of the year; Novartis’ CEO also downplayed the impact of Big Pharma pricing deals with the Trump administration; Regeneron continued the trend of dropping cell therapy assets; BioSpace takes a look at how the FDA is functioning mid-shutdown.

Vas Narasimhan confirmed that Novartis is having weekly discussions with the Trump administration on drug pricing, but a deal has not yet been reached.

While the threat of tariffs dies down for the pharma industry, President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing a new investigation that could result in import taxes against U.S. trading partners that don’t pay enough for drugs.

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz clarified that a deal has not yet been sealed with the manufacturer of semaglutide, Novo Nordisk, or any other GLP-1 drugmaker.

EMD Serono will offer its fertility treatments on TrumpRx at a steep discount, and Roche’s direct-to-consumer offering will cover its flu pill Xofluza.

Reporting third quarter earnings on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato said the healthcare giant has not yet secured a drug pricing deal with the White House, but discussions are ongoing.

J&J reports today, just two weeks after Pfizer secured certainty on tariffs and drug pricing. Analysts expect to hear about plans from the rest of the industry during third period earnings calls.

The British pharmaceutical giant has joined the direct-to-consumer push, following Pfizer and Amgen’s announcements in response to the president’s calls to lower U.S. drug prices.

GoodRx, an online platform that offers drug discount coupons to patients, is in talks with the government to participate in the forthcoming TrumpRx program.

The British proposal to increase support for pharma is “clearly positive,” according to analysts at Leerink, who noted that the NHS’ move will improve patient access to treatments.