The Trump administration's promised direct-to-consumer drug platform TrumpRx has officially gone live, with President Trump on Thursday calling it "one of the most transformative health care initiatives of all time."
The website TrumpRx.gov currently features a collection of 43 prescription drugs treating various different conditions at varying discounts. Medications for asthma, infertility and obesity are among those available on the website.
TrumpRx is part of the administration's "Most Favored Nation' drug pricing initiative, which seeks to compel drugmakers to sell medicines to the U.S. at the lowest price that they're sold globally.
"Starting tonight, dozens of the most commonly used prescription drugs will be available at dramatic discounts for all consumers throughout a new website," Trump said at the platform's unveiling Thursday night.
The president was joined by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to go over the website.
"We were essentially subsidizing the entire world and subsidizing by hundreds of billions of dollars every year," Trump added. "The United States is just 4 percent of the world's population and consumes only 13 percent of all prescription drugs. Yet pharmaceutical companies have been making 75 percent from these drugs. Think of it. 75 percent of the money they made came from the United States."
Here's what to know about TrumpRx:
How does it work?
Drugs cannot be bought directly through the website. Instead, customers receive coupons for drugs that they can either print or download onto their phones and take to pharmacies.
The website asks customers to confirm that they are not enrolled in "any government, state, or federally funded medical or prescription benefit programs." Those with both commercial and government-funded plans are considered to be on government insurance and are not permitted to participate in TrumpRx.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who joined the Trump administration last year as Chief Design Officer, appeared with Trump and his administration officials to go over the website on Thursday.
"I take this coupon and I bring it to the pharmacy. I can print it out. I can add it to my wallet on my phone, whether it’s an apple or an Android. I show it to the pharmacist, and I get the coupon credit right at the register," said Gebbia.
The website also identifies which drugs are commonly prescribed alongside the medicine that someone is getting a coupon for, as well as which pharmacies carry it.
In a statement Thursday evening, the telemedicine platform GoodRx announced it would be a "key integration partner" for pharmaceutical companies looking to offer their products on TrumpRx.
"At launch, GoodRx is the integrated pricing source for Pfizer, including over 30 of Pfizer's essential brand medications, along with other leading pharmaceutical manufacturers. Additional manufacturer integrations are expected to follow," the company said.
What drugs are available?
There are currently 43 medications available on TrumpRx.
Some of the most familiar medications on the website are Insulin lispro, Wegovy in both oral and pen form, Ozempic, Zepbound, the fertility medication Gonal-F, the rescue inhaler Airsupra and Farxiga.
Despite senior administration officials previously saying injectable products would not be available on the platform -- explaining at the time it would not "clinically appropriate" -- injectables like GLP-1s, insulin and IVF medications made the list at launch.
"The website washes with over 40 magic medications, ones that are the popular medications and ones that were previously very expensive," said Gebbia. "We're adding more and more drugs week over week."
The drugs are listed in descending order by the size of the expected discounts.
How much are the savings?
The savings range between 33 and 93 percent off the list price of the drugs. The IVF medication Cetrotide had the highest discount at launch, going from $316.12 for one pre-filled syringe and vial of 0.25 milligram-strength medication to $22.50.
The human growth hormone medication Ngenla saw the highest absolute discount in terms of dollar amount, with $5,542.74 cut off the cost of a pre-filled pen with 60 milligrams in 1.2 milliliters. This, however, would only be a 50 percent discount in total, leaving another $5,542.74 for the patient to cover.
Health policy groups, including those that have been critical of the Trump administration in the past, offered praise for the savings initiative.
"President Trump should be congratulated for shaking up the drug pricing system by taking the bold step to launch TrumpRx, a government website which allows consumers to purchase prescription medications at much lower costs by bypassing drug middlemen," Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a statement.
Schmid noted that TrumpRx may not be the best option for those who have private insurance and may want to use the platform to get drugs at a lower cost as many patients may meet their deductibles early in the year and pay less through their insurance annually.
Ashish Jha, who served as the Biden administration's White House COVID-19 response coordinator, praised the website as a "good thing."
"This is a direct-to-consumer thing. What will happen is, as you heard in the report, you're not going to get it directly from this website. You're going to be sent off to the websites of the pharma companies, Pfizer, Merck, whoever, Eli Lilly. And it's going to be really, really helpful for people who don't have health insurance," Jha told The Hill's sister network NewsNation.
Jeffrey Singer, health policy expert for libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, offered a mixed reaction to the launch.
"President Trump is right that direct-to-consumer drug sales can restore cost sensitivity and put pressure on prices," Singer wrote in commentary published by Cato. "But a government-run platform risks crowding out private competition and reintroducing political favoritism into a market that was already becoming more consumer-driven."