Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday that it has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to cut drug prices for Americans in exchange for exemptions from U.S. tariffs.
In December, the administration had reached an agreement with nine other major pharmaceutical companies to cut the prices of their medicines for the government’s Medicaid program and for cash-paying consumers. This move aims to bring U.S. drug costs in line with those in other wealthy countries.
U.S. patients currently pay far more for prescription medicine, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations, and President Donald Trump has been pressuring drugmakers to lower prices to levels paid abroad.
READ: Jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million over talc-linked cancer death (
“The joint agreement meets the requests laid out by President Trump to the industry and provides the company’s pharmaceutical products an exemption from tariffs,” J&J said in a statement on Thursday. Specific terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
J&J said that it will participate in the TrumpRx.gov website to allow Americans to purchase its drugs at significantly discounted rates. It will also provide Medicaid access at prices comparable with those in other developed countries.
All nine companies agreed to lower prices on most drugs sold to the Medicaid program for low-income people, under the December deal.
J&J also said that it will build two new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Pennsylvania as part of its $55 billion U.S. investment plan announced last year. It also said it’s likely to announce additional U.S. investments later this year.
READ: Johnson & Johnson to pay $1.56 billion to a talc plaintiff in largest ever award (
Johnson & Johnson was recently ordered by a Baltimore court to pay $1.56 billion to a Maryland woman who claimed her use of the baby powder caused her cancer. This was the largest award ever against J&J to be given to a single plaintiff.
Jurors in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City held J&J liable for not warning Cherie Craft that its baby powder contained asbestos, which has been linked to cancer. 59-year-old Craft was diagnosed with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in January 2024. J&J, which denied the charges, will appeal the verdict. Legal chief Eric Haas called the verdict “egregious and patently unconstitutional.”
In a similar case, a Los Angeles jury ordered J&J to pay $966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, finding the company liable in the latest trial alleging its talc products cause cancer.