WASHINGTON — The White House announced Thursday that it is reviewing a new proposal from the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) aimed at reshaping how prescription drugs are priced in the United States.
The Office of Management and Budget confirmed it has received an economically significant proposed rule titled “Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE) Model.” The measure reflects the Trump administration’s push to tie U.S. drug prices to those in other developed nations, part of the president’s “most-favored-nation” (MFN) pricing policy.
President Donald Trump revived the initiative in May with an executive order, after the rule he originally introduced in 2020 was blocked in court and later rescinded under the Biden administration.
The proposed rule arrives just days before a September 29 deadline that Trump set for major drugmakers to voluntarily lower their U.S. prices in line with MFN benchmarks. The president has sent letters to the CEOs of 17 leading pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Merck, giving them 60 days to comply with the request.
Other U.S.-based companies receiving letters include Gilead Sciences, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, and AbbVie. European firms, including Merck KGaA, Sanofi, GSK, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Roche, and Novartis, were also notified.
The move underscores the administration’s determination to confront high prescription drug costs, a longstanding political and policy flashpoint. Whether the proposed rule clears the review process and survives anticipated legal challenges will determine the scope of its impact on patients and the pharmaceutical industry.
