AstraZeneca to Announce Deal with Trump Administration: Report

Another major pharmaceutical company is striking a deal with President Trump.

AstraZeneca is set to announce a deal with the administration on Friday afternoon, according to a report from MSNBC. The deal will include a MFN provision for AstraZeneca drug prices along with participation in TrumpRx, a government run DTC pharmaceutical site. The pharmaceutical company will also invest $50 billion in US-based drug manufacturing and R&D.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, will reportedly join the President for the announcement.

The details of the agreement are in line with other moves made by major pharmaceutical companies in recent weeks. Most notably, Pfizer recently announced a similar deal with the Trump administration in late September. The deal included similar details, although it included a clause that Pfizer would not face tariffs on its goods as long as it held up its end of the bargain. It has not yet been reported if the AstraZeneca deal will include a similar provision, although it’s very likely that it will.

The specific details of the Pfizer deal were not made public. However, it has been reported that Pfizer will also participate in TrumpRx. The latest reporting from MSNBC states that representatives for the administration do not expect the site to go live until some time in 2026. It is still not known if the site will be available to everyone or just to citizens who are on government plans, such as Medicare.

Other pharma companies have already announced plans to invest significant resources into domestic manufacturing and R&D. It is expected that more major pharmaceuticals will announce similar MFN-related deals in the coming weeks.

It has been a turbulent year for the pharmaceutical industry in regard to regulation. President Trump discussed placing significant tariffs on imported goods during his campaign and reiterated his intentions during the early days of his administration at the beginning of this year. Since then, he has adjusted the timeline, amount, and goods included in the tariffs multiple times.

President Trump has provided multiple reasons for placing tariffs on various companies and industries. For pharma, his goal appears to be to push the industry to rely less on importing foreign drugs and other goods. Instead, he’s been pushing for pharma companies to increase their domestic manufacturing capabilities.

In late spring, the President also announced that he would issue an Executive Order demanding that pharma companies treat the United States as a most-favored-nation when setting drug prices. Over the summer, President Trump publicly published letters to 17 different major pharmaceutical companies that he believed had been taking the proper steps to set MFN prices. Letters were addressed to both AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

Most recently, President Trump announced in late September that he would be placing 100% tariffs on branded or patented pharma goods. However, he would offer an exemption to companies that had begun construction (or broken ground) on domestic manufacturing or R&D sites. The following week, Pfizer announced its deal with the administration.

While the President initially set an October 1 deadline for the 100% tariff-rule, he seems to have backed off on that. According to reports, he made the decision to hold off on the tariffs based on ongoing negotiations with pharma companies. Instead, he plans to use the threat of tariffs as leverage during conversation with pharma representatives.