Drugmakers With Major North Carolina Operations Announce Discounts Following White House Push

Two major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Amgen, have recently announced plans to lower U.S. drug prices, following new federal policy directives aimed at reducing the cost of prescription medications for American patients. Both of these companies have major operations in North Carolina, employing hundreds.

The announcements come in the wake of recent actions by President Donald Trump, who has made lowering drug prices a central focus of his administration’s trade and health policy initiatives. On July 31, President Trump sent formal letters to leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, calling on them to lower U.S. drug prices to levels comparable to those in other wealthy nations. The administration has stated its goal is to address what it sees as pricing disparities that leave American consumers paying significantly more than patients in Europe, Canada, and elsewhere.

More recently, on September 25, the administration announced a 100% tariff on branded pharmaceutical imports into the United States. Officials say the measure is intended to encourage domestic price reductions and deter what the White House describes as "foreign free-riding" on U.S. pharmaceutical innovation.

U.S. pharmaceutical companies are responding.

Last month, Pfizer announced a voluntary agreement with the federal government to lower U.S. drug prices and expand direct-to-consumer access through a new platform called TrumpRx.gov. Pfizer committed to price newly launched medications in the U.S. at parity with other developed markets and offer most of its primary care medications and select specialty drugs at discounts averaging 50%, with so.me as high as 85% through the direct-to-consumer site.

This week, Amgen launched a new direct-to-consumer initiative called AmgenNow, starting with significant price reductions for its cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha.

The drug will now be available for $239 per month, down from its list price of $572.70, a nearly 60% discount. The company says this is currently the lowest price for Repatha among the G7 group of advanced economies. Amgen’s move takes a market-driven approach to deliver immediate savings for U.S. patients.

The Trump administration’s push to lower drug prices in the United States, directly impacts North Carolina’s economy.

Pfizer has a large presence in North Carolina, employing over 4,500 workers in the state and invested $1.4 billion since 2017. Amgen announced its first facility in North Carolina in 2021. In December 2024, Amgen announced plans to invest over $1 billion expansion with plans to create hundreds of jobs at its Holly Springs manufacturing facility.