Report: Trump admin directs USTR to monitor foreign country device, pharma price caps

The President last week ordered the US Trade Representative to take under consideration countries which are implementing price controls on American pharmaceuticals and medical devices, according to a Financial Express report.

President Trump referred to such prices controls as unjustified and at the expense of America’s R&D, and implied that the US could no longer tolerate such behavior, according to the report.

“As we demand fairness for American patients at home, we will also demand fairness overseas. When foreign governments extort unreasonably low prices from US drug makers, Americans have to pay more to subsidise the enormous cost of research and development,” Trump said in a speech, according to Financial Express.

The Trump administration claims that such price reductions in other countries lead to lower reference prices used by other countries, and delay the availability of new cures and devices, according to the report.

Over the past two years, India’s government has taken a strong stance on pricing of pharmaceuticals and devices, and has implemented caps on cardiac stents and other medical devices, including knee implants, that have caused major players in medtech to seek to withdraw their devices from the country.

In April 2017, the NPPA rejected applications from Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Abbott (NYSE:ABT) to pull their respective Resolute Onyx and Absorb stents (Abbott has since taken Absorb off the global market, citing lackluster sales). The NPPA is already considering further caps for other medical devices.

The country has shown no signs of relenting on the caps, and has even been rumored to be considering more caps on devices including intraocular lenses and cardiac devices.

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