President Donald Trump met with pharmaceutical leaders on Tuesday, vowing that he would lower the costs of prescription drugs in the country by increasing competition.
“We can increase competition and bidding wars big-time,” he said. “We have to.” Trump also urged them to move their production facilities and companies back to the United States, vowing to cut corporate taxes and regulations. He also pointed out that competition in the drug market had dissipated, thanks to sluggish approval prices and an overbearing regulatory system.
“We’re gonna be lowering taxes big league, we’re going to be getting rid of regulations that are unnecessary big league,” he said.
Trump met in the Oval Office with officials from Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Celgene, Eli Lilly, and Novartis. After their meeting, Trump told reporters that he would oppose road blocks making it harder for smaller drug companies to compete with larger ones. He also accused Medicare of increasing the cost of drugs.
“I’ll oppose anything that makes it harder for smaller, younger companies to take the risk of bringing a product to a vibrantly competitive market,” he said. “That includes price fixing by the biggest dog in the market, Medicare, which is what’s happening.”
Trump also promised to streamline the FDA, helping the industry approve drugs quickly.
“We have a fantastic person that I think I’ll be naming fairly soon who’s gonna streamline the FDA and you’re gonna get your products either approved or not approved, but it’s gonna be a quick process,” he said. “It’s not gonna take 15 years.”