President Trump’s recent agreements with Pfizer and AstraZeneca have drawn attention for lowering drug costs and incentivizing domestic manufacturing. Equally important, they make direct-to-consumer purchasing a national priority, an evolution that could reset industry incentives.
Direct-to-consumer pricing isn’t new, but its integration into federal policy is. If implemented thoughtfully, it could lower costs by advancing transparency, streamlining distribution and strengthening accountability across the pharmaceutical supply chain.
As I wrote in a recent column, the administration’s negotiations with Pfizer and AstraZeneca signal that the president and his team are pushing for a structural reset in pharma, and willing to apply pressure to get it. Both agreements exchange tariff relief for lower prices and greater U.S. investment, and the launch of TrumpRx.gov signals that direct-to-consumer purchasing is now central to the drug affordability agenda.
This development builds on earlier private-sector efforts, like Eli Lilly’s decision to sell its obesity drug Zepbound directly to patients at a steep discount, the topic of a recent column of mine. While the concept isn’t new, the scale and legitimacy will be. When the federal government creates an infrastructure for DTC purchasing, it gives the model permanence, and potentially, broad consumer adoption.
The DTC approach also aligns with the administration’s broader strategy: using negotiation and leverage to correct imbalances without imposing formal price controls. By linking affordability to domestic production and transparency, it reframes how pharmaceutical value is defined—through measurable benefit rather than intermediated pricing.
For decades, the drug-pricing ecosystem has rewarded opacity. Pharmacy benefit managers and other intermediaries operate between manufacturer and patient, profiting from rebates negotiated off inflated list prices. These rebates often obscure real costs, leaving employers, taxpayers and patients in the dark about who benefits from discounts that were meant to lower prices.
The disconnect begins at the point of purchase. Patients typically pay deductibles and coinsurance based on the list price of a drug, the figure before rebates and discounts are applied. That means even when insurers and PBMs receive significant post-sale rebates, the patient’s share at the pharmacy counter doesn’t reflect those savings. The result is a system in which prices for patients are high, even as rebates are generous, and few can tell where the money actually goes.
The TrumpRx model challenges that structure. Under the new framework, patients can buy directly from manufacturers at or near “most-favored-nation” pricing—prices equivalent to what consumers in other developed countries pay. This removes the need for rebate-driven pricing and begins to restore a rational link between cost and value.
As I said in a column last year, PBMs’ influence has distorted the market, blocking generics and biosimilars that should have reduced costs.
Direct sales offer a corrective by tying affordability to transparency rather than to opaque contracting. For manufacturers, the incentive shifts from optimizing rebate spread to optimizing patient outcomes and restoring public trust.
At the same time, this model invites pharmaceutical manufacturers to more effectively build a value narrative of their products that is compelling for patients. Companies will have to demonstrate that their direct prices truly reflect economic and clinical value in the eyes of the consumer. That means rethinking how they justify costs, measure outcomes over the long run and communicate results, not only to payers but to patients themselves.
The broader promise of DTC is its ability to give patients clearer information and direct access, making them more informed patient-consumers. When individuals can compare products based on both price and efficacy, competition naturally shifts toward performance and value.
Nevertheless, DTC is not a catch-all solution to every problem in pharma and the wider ecosystem. It will coexist with traditional insurance models, and its reach will vary depending on therapeutic category and patient ability to pay out-of-pocket.
Still, the underlying message from the Trump administration is clear: transparency is no longer optional. Whether driven by policy or market pressure, the industry’s future will hinge on showing that price reflects measurable benefit to the patient, the healthcare system and society.
Direct-to-consumer pricing reflects a pragmatic evolution, not a radical break. The tools already exist; what’s new is the political and commercial alignment to begin making DTC pricing commonplace.
The path forward is one of accountability, transparency and evidence. Those principles will determine whether this new model fulfills its promise or becomes another missed opportunity in healthcare reform.