Event Session
The Price of Medicine: Why the U.S. Pays More for Prescription Drugs *
October 27, 2025 @ 3:10 PM EST
3:10 PM ET
October 27, 2025
The Price of Medicine: Why the U.S. Pays More for Prescription Drugs *
The cost of prescription pharmaceuticals is higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and many in the United States—including President Trump—are unhappy with this imbalance. But why do Americans pay more for prescription drugs? There are a variety of reasons why drugs cost more in the United States than in other countries, including the existence of middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which only exist in the United States. These PBMs do nothing to discover or innovate drugs, and they do not sell drugs to consumers, but they siphon off a staggering 50% of the overall cost of pharmaceutical drugs. Another major differentiator is the fact that research and development is paid for almost exclusively by Americans because other rich western countries implement strict price controls that do not allow innovator pharmaceutical companies any room to recoup their significant R&D expense.
This panel will discuss how supply chain middlemen, regulatory frameworks, and global pricing disparities shape what Americans ultimately pay at the pharmacy counter. The conversation will evaluate current policy proposals—including the most favored nation (MFN) Executive Order—and consider how to strike the right balance between affordability, innovation, and patient access.
Materials:
Latest Trump Executive Order Redirects Drug Pricing Debate
Trump Threatens Pharma to Deliver on Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing or Face Consequences
The Price of Drug Innovation: Middlemen, Global Free-Riding and the Future of Medicine
Are Patents to Blame for High Drug Prices?
Hyper-Focus on Patents Has Led to Lack of Progress on Drug Pricing
Why the Math Doesn’t Support Blaming Drug Patents for the High Cost of U.S. Healthcare
SURVEY:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/The-Price-of-Medicine
The cost of prescription pharmaceuticals is higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and many in the United States—including President Trump—are unhappy with this imbalance. But why do Americans pay more for prescription drugs? There are a variety of reasons why drugs cost more in the United States than in other countries, including the existence of…
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