(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump’s deadline for drugmakers to lower the costs of their medications in the United States expired Monday.
The Department of Health and Human Services said its recently released drug pricing list — the Global Benchmark to Efficient Drug Pricing, or GLOBE — has been sent to the White House for review.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the current system as “unfair,” saying he wants Americans to “stop being ripped off” for prescription drugs. He has also said drugmakers that do not comply with the order to lower their prices will face penalties.
“We pay much higher for drugs than the rest of the world,” Trump said. “We subsidize the rest of the world, we’re not doing that anymore.”
Drugmakers and Trump officials agree on one thing: European nations pay far less for medicines than the U.S. does. Several companies have tried to appease the Trump administration by raising prices abroad, but are stopping short of lowering them in the U.S.
Eli Lilly announced it would raise the price of the popular weight loss drug Mounjaro by 170% in the United Kingdom. Bristol Myers Squibb hiked the cost of its schizophrenia drug, Cobenfy, in the U.K. to match the U.S. price, which is $1,850 a month, or $22,200 a year.
BMS also launched a direct-to-patient program for its blood thinner Eliquis at Trump’s request.
When it comes to lowering drug prices, drugmakers are pushing back, arguing that the American market fuels innovation, and that foreign countries, not American companies, should bear more of the cost.
In a statement, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said, “Importing foreign price controls would undermine American leadership, hurting patients and workers.” They added that the better solution is to “get foreign countries to pay their fair share for innovative medicines.”
One of the penalties Trump has said companies will face if they do not lower the drug prices is pulling drug ads off television.