Less than a year ago, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) CEO Stephen Ubl stated PhRMA would be “answering Trump’s call” to put America first in the healthcare ecosystem. However, as President Donald Trump continues to deliver lower prices on medications, PhRMA has not only avoided the call but undermined Trump’s efforts to deliver for Americans.
Trump is on the frontlines of the battle to lower prescription prices for the American people through his “Most Favored Nations” (MFN) drug pricing, a policy compelling drug manufacturers to match the price of their products to the lowest price paid by international partners. Now, Trump seeks to codify MFN into law, and despite PhRMA’s alleged commitment to accommodating the Trump administration’s affordability agenda, Stephen Ubl has wasted little time in contradicting his own words by voicing his criticism of the decision.
Ubl has said codifying MFN is the ‘wrong policy prescription,” while in the same breath saying, “the administration deserves enormous credit for the leverage that they’re applying in these bilateral discussions with other countries.”
In short, PhRMA wants prices for Americans’ medications to remain high, and wants to leverage the president’s efforts to ensure foreign nations also pay more.
Meanwhile, Trump’s agenda is a simple one: Americans, who are already struggling in the face of rising affordability concerns, should not have to pay more than patients in other countries do for the prescriptions they need to survive. People on both sides of the aisle want to see drastic shifts in the paradigm, and the Trump administration is now in a position to negotiate deals with drug manufacturers to lower prices at the pharmacy counter.
Yet PhRMA has thoroughly demonstrated it would rather preserve the status quo of Big Pharma than improve the quality of life for hard-working citizens. A top lobbyist in the pharmaceutical industry, Ubl has spearheaded PhRMA’s efforts to undermine the administration’s drug pricing policies. In 2025 alone, the organization has spent a record-high $38 million on lobbying efforts to combat the implementation of MFN.
TARIFF INDIA, AND HALF OF AMERICA’S MEDICINE CABINET COULD DISAPPEAR
The tale of PhRMA’s opposition to Trump’s affordability agenda is not a new one, however. PhRMA’s feud also coincides with its longstanding battle against Medicare drug pricing negotiations. Similar to their MFN efforts, the Trump administration has championed roughly $12 billion federal savings for seniors benefitting from Medicare. Despite PhRMA’s efforts, Medicare negotiation continues to save taxpayers billions of dollars. Not only should this administration stay the course, but at a time when drugs are often cheaper overseas, we should be expanding the scope of negotiations to include more medications, not less. These disputes make it all too clear that while the administration takes concrete, quantifiable measures to save Americans money, PhRMA and other pharmaceutical companies only seek to ensure prices go up for everyone.
Ubl promised to answer Trump’s call, but actions speak louder than words. As Trump routinely criticizes: “all talk, no action.” If PhRMA truly desires to effect meaningful change for citizens through drug pricing, then that effort will require more than issuing superficial statements of support. In a time when grocery prices are already high, and gas prices feel even higher, millions of Americans depend on critical medications to survive or maintain their quality of life. Those medications shouldn’t have to be out of reach because Big Pharma continuously undermines Trump’s efforts.
Elbert Guillory is a former Louisiana state senator.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
