Trump Tariffs on Pharmaceuticals Could Spike Costs 100% for Common Meds, Including Entresto to Keytruda
Written by
Travis Woods
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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Despite President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff-launching “Liberation Day” being just over a year old — and with the legality of most of those tariffs stricken down by the Supreme Court — the Trump administration surprised the nation on Liberation Day’s first anniversary by announcing new tariffs on many brand-name drugs manufactured outside of the United States. This is a move that could, in the short term, radically increase the prices of your medication.
Trump’s plan? To levy a 100% tariff on pharmaceutical companies that manufacture drugs in foreign countries, rather than in America. It’s a policy designed to reshape the pharmaceutical industry in the long-term by incentivizing American manufacturing and price concessions, with large drug companies being given 120 days (and smaller companies 180 days) to negotiate the construction of American-based pharmaceutical plants to avoid the tariffs, per CNBC. The companies would then have until January 2029 to complete the actual plants.
Some major pharmaceutical companies — like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson — have already begun negotiations. Others, however, have yet to make a deal with the administration, and in just four months could be hit with 100% tariffs. That means, essentially, that the drugs made by companies without a deal could literally double in price. If, say, a specific medication costs $50 per bottle, a 100% tariff would increase its cost to $100, with that cost increase being pushed directly onto the consumer.
While a full list of companies (and their medications) that will be hit with the 100% tariff is not yet available, below are just a few drugs manufactured in foreign countries that could double in price by August.
Entresto
- Price for 60 tablets before tariffs (without insurance): $717.42
- Price for 60 tablets after tariffs (without insurance): $1,434.84
Easily one of the most widely-used prescription medications for heart failure, Entresto is manufactured by Novartis in Switzerland.
Keytruda
- Price for 4mL IV solution before tariffs (without insurance): $6,001.54
- Price for 4mL IV solution after tariffs (without insurance): $12,003.08
Keytruda is one of the bestselling medications globally, and is used for cancer immunotherapy. It’s manufactured in Ireland by Merck.
Lenvima
- Price for 60 capsules before tariffs (without insurance): $25,142.92
- Price for 60 capsules after tariffs (without insurance): $50,285.84
Lenvima is a very expensive medication manufactured in Japan by Eisai, and is used to combat thyroid cancer and kidney cancer in older patients.
Ozempic/Wegovy
- Price for 3mL subcutaneous solution before tariffs (without insurance): $1,011.57
- Price for 3mL subcutaneous solution after tariffs (without insurance): $2,023.14
While recently famous as a weight-loss solution, Ozempic/Wegovy is a very common treatment for type 2 diabetes in patients over the age of 50, and is manufactured in Denmark by Novo Nordisk.
Editor’s note: Drug prices sourced from Drugs.com.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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