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.
Roche and EMD Serono are joining the industry-wide push to lower healthcare costs in the U.S., falling in line with the Trump administration’s agenda.
EMD Serono, the U.S. healthcare unit of German pharma giant Merck KGaA, has pledged to participate in the forthcoming TrumpRx platform, offering steep discounts on three of its fertility treatments. When used together as part of a typical in vitro fertilization protocol, total savings could reach 84% versus list prices, the company said in a Thursday release.
The White House announced on Thursday that women will be able to procure the follicle-stimulating hormone injection Gonal-F at a discount “equal to 796% of the deal price,” while those who qualify as low- or middle-income will benefit from an “additional discount totaling 2,230% of the deal price.” Patients will be able to avail of these savings when they purchase the drug from TrumpRx.gov, which is expected to go online early next year, the announcement stated.
Aside from its discounted pricing, EMD Serono has also pledged to provide Most-Favored-Nation pricing “on all new innovative medicines that come to market,” the White House added, referring to the government’s pricing scheme seeking to match U.S. drug prices to those in similarly developed nations. EMD Serono will also “repatriate increased foreign revenue on existing products,” according to the White House release.
Meanwhile, EMD Serono noted that it is in talks with the Commerce Department to exclude its products and pharmaceutical ingredients from tariffs. To this end, the company has promised to invest in future biopharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S.
Also on Thursday, Roche’s subsidiary Genentech announced that it will offer its antiviral flu pill Xofluza on a direct-to-consumer basis. Under this new scheme, Xofluza will be available for $50, representing a 70% discount from its current list price, though it is unclear how impactful such a price cut will be, given existing promotional deals. For instance, Genentech offers a coupon that lowers patients’ copay to as little as $35, though this offer comes with certain conditions.
To roll out its DTC offering, Genentech will work with Alto Pharmacy, Amazon Pharmacy and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug, according to the company’s announcement.
Many other companies in recent weeks have announced DTC offerings, largely as a response to the Trump administration’s calls to lower drug prices in the U.S. In late September, Pfizer led the charge on joining TrumpRx, announcing that it would offer drugs at discounts ranging from 40% to 80% of their respective list prices.
AstraZeneca followed suit last week. When TrumpRx goes live next year, the pharma expects to offer three of its inhalers on the platform, likewise at steep discounts ranging from 96% to 654%, according to the White House.