Foreign countries are indeed “freeloading” on American pharmaceutical investment, as the AFPI paper puts it. U.S. gross prices for brand-name drugs are 422% higher, on average, than in 33 other developed nations analyzed by the RAND Corporation in a 2024 study.
A new paper by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, has revived the debate over global drug pricing.
The paper points out that patients in the United States tend to pay considerably more for brand-name prescription drugs than those in most other wealthy nations. The think tank argues that the Trump administration should find ways to force other countries to pay more for drugs — and thus pick up a more equitable share of the cost of developing new medicines.
The intent is right. Unfortunately, the paper’s methods for achieving it would slow global innovation — and fail to compel other countries to pay more for drugs.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Price Controls Won’t End Global Pharma Freeloading
Sally C. Pipes
Foreign countries are indeed “freeloading” on American pharmaceutical investment, as the AFPI paper puts it. U.S. gross prices for brand-name drugs are 422% higher, on average, than in 33 other developed nations analyzed by the RAND Corporation in a 2024 study.
A new paper by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank with close ties to the Trump administration, has revived the debate over global drug pricing.
The paper points out that patients in the United States tend to pay considerably more for brand-name prescription drugs than those in most other wealthy nations. The think tank argues that the Trump administration should find ways to force other countries to pay more for drugs — and thus pick up a more equitable share of the cost of developing new medicines.
The intent is right. Unfortunately, the paper’s methods for achieving it would slow global innovation — and fail to compel other countries to pay more for drugs.
Read the op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.