Trump Urges Indian-American Vasant Narasimhan, Pharma CEOs to Lower Drug Prices

Quick Summary:

• U.S. President Donald Trump has written to 17 top pharmaceutical CEOs, including Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan, demanding actions to reduce drug prices in the U.S.
• The move aims to align U.S. drug prices with those in Europe and other developed nations by September 29, 2025.
• The Trump governance has labelled current pricing practices as “abusive,” citing Americans pay over triple for life-saving drugs compared to other nations.
• Key demands include global parity pricing for medicaid, fair pricing for new drugs, redirecting overseas profits for the benefit of American patients, and enabling consumers to directly purchase at international benchmarked prices.
• At a white House briefing on July 31, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitte called the policy a step toward relieving American families of financial burdens due to high medication costs.
• Failure by pharmaceutical companies to comply may prompt the administration to utilize “every tool” available.

Indian Opinion Analysis:

President Trump’s direct engagement with leaders in the pharmaceutical industry demonstrates his administration’s determination against high prescription drug costs-a pressing issue in American healthcare policy. The inclusion of indian-American Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan highlights the critically important role of multinational corporations and expatriate professionals within this framework.For India’s globally integrated pharmaceutical industry-which supplies affordable generics worldwide-the implications could be mixed. While competition may intensify if reduced price parity spreads internationally, there is possibility if Indian firms increase participation thru competitively priced technologies or partnerships directed at U.S.-based markets. As one of the largest exporters of generic drugs globally,India will also need to observe whether future U.S.-centric policies ripple out into ancillary markets like trade relations or intellectual property negotiations involving Indian companies.

Read more: The Hindu