Trump seals drug pricing deals with nine pharmaceutical giant companies

US President Donald Trump has said that his administration has signed so-called "most favoured nation" pricing deals with nine major pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the United States.

The agreements were reached with Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi, marking the latest effort by the White House to tackle high drug prices.

"They’ve agreed to offer many of their flagship drugs, really, all of their flagship drugs, at heavily discounted most favoured nation prices," Trump said during remarks at the Oval Office, flanked by pharmaceutical executives.

"In other words, whatever the drug sells for in the world, whatever the lowest number is — if it’s Germany, if it’s in the UK, anywhere — we will match that price," he said.

Trump said Americans had long paid significantly more for medications than patients in other countries.

"Right now, sometimes it’s 10 times higher. We’ve been laughed at and scoffed at for years," he added.

The drugs covered under the agreements include treatments for heart disease, hypertension, HIV and other serious illnesses.

Under the plan, the new pricing will be made available directly to consumers through a government-backed website, TrumpRX.gov, which the administration said is expected to launch in January.