Trump pressures pharma giants over prices, including Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan

Highlights

• U.S. President Donald Trump writes directly to 17 global pharma CEOs
  
• Indian American Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, among those addressed
  
• Companies given until 29 September 2025 to match U.S. drug prices with Europe and other developed nations
  
• Trump administration demands urgent reform of what it calls “abusive pricing practices”
  
• Letter outlines four specific actions, including global price parity and redirecting overseas profits
  

In a direct and unprecedented move, U.S. President Donald Trump has sent formal letters to 17 top pharmaceutical executives, including Vasant Narasimhan, the Indian American CEO of Novartis, demanding immediate action to lower drug prices in the United States.

Announced at a White House press briefing on 31 July by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the letters are part of the administration’s aggressive push to reform what it calls “abusive drug pricing practices.” The companies have been given until 29 September 2025 to comply with a set of sweeping demands.

Key demands set out by Trump

Each letter, signed personally by President Trump, contains four core requirements:

• Extend global price parity to Medicaid
  
• Ensure fair pricing for all new medications launched
  
• Return overseas profits to benefit U.S. patients
  
• Enable direct-to-consumer sales at internationally benchmarked rates
  

“This unacceptable burden on hardworking American families ends with my administration,” Trump warned. “If you fail to act, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal.”

Vasant Narasimhan: a key figure in the global debate

Vasant Narasimhan, a U.S.-trained physician of Indian origin, has led Novartis, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, since 2018. The company derives a significant portion of its revenue from the United States, both through private sector sales and public healthcare programmes.

Trump’s letter to Narasimhan and his counterparts signals growing pressure on multinational pharmaceutical firms to standardise drug pricing globally “For too long, Americans have paid more than triple for the same life-saving medications compared to other countries,” said Leavitt. “President Trump says this injustice ends now.”

White House highlights human impact

To illustrate the urgency of the issue, the White House briefing included a letter from a mother in Ohio who described the struggle to afford insulin for her child while holding two jobs.

“This is about people,” Leavitt said. “Families are being forced to choose between rent and medicine.”

Administration rejects pharma industry’s past proposals

Trump criticised previous industry proposals, saying they offered no real solutions and would result in government handouts to drugmakers.

“Moving forward, the only thing I will accept from drug manufacturers is a commitment that provides American families immediate relief from vastly inflated drug prices,” he wrote.

“The free ride of American innovation by European and other developed nations ends now.”