The pharmaceutical industry appears to be appealing to the interest of President Donald Trump and Republicans in taking on China. The industry’s leading trade organization is crafting an image of pharma as key to the United States’ economic success and global superpower status in order to gain support for key pharma policy changes.
PhRMA Kicks Off Year Attacking China, Wrapping Agenda In American Flag
US pharma leadership is painting its mission, particularly its goal to end Medicare price controls, as patriotic and essential to America’s global dominance over China, a move that seems designed to align with President Trump’s priorities.

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A Republican think tank suggested variations of the Most Favored Nation and international reference policies in Medicare and Medicaid, as well as tariffs and other trade levers to rebalance drug pricing disparities between US countries and abroad.
Democrats opposed the nomination because they believe Mehmet Oz will not defend Medicaid from spending cuts. His pledge to continue lowering drug costs in Medicare and Medicaid did not offset the concerns.
The UK branded drug industry is calling for adjustments to be made to the UK voluntary scheme framework for branded medicines, after the payment rate increased to 22.9% for 2025. Meanwhile, the generics industry says the scheme is functioning “as intended” and opposes any changes.
An initiative run by health technology appraisal (HTA) bodies in the US, Canada and England is looking at how non-traditional treatment benefits, such as the value of hope and scientific spillover, can inform appraisals and understanding of a product’s value.
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Japan adds four new pediatric vaccines, including for MMRV and norovirus, to a list of priority vaccines eligible for assistance in regulatory processing.
Payers and health technology assessment bodies in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy are either unwilling to use real-world data in assessments or cannot due to their existing frameworks, say representatives from Gilead Sciences and Autolus Therapeutics.
The Clinical Trials Regulation was “supposed to harmonize” requirements in the EU, but instead it is giving some countries the chance to get ahead by offering faster approval timelines, notes Telethon’s head of regulatory affairs.