Global drugmakers are seeking higher prices for prescription drugs in Europe in 2026 after being forced to cut prices in the US last year under pressure from President Donald Trump. The measure could delay the launch of innovative treatments in European countries, including Romania, limiting patient access.
In 2025, companies such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca have pledged, at several White House events, to lower the prices of new drugs in the US to bring them in line with those in other developed countries. Trump has pointed out that other rich countries should pay more for drugs to allow lower prices in the US market.
The United States and Britain have reached an agreement in which the British benefit from tariff reductions in exchange for a 25% increase in the net price of new American drugs, according to Reuters.
Higher prices in Europe against rapid access to new medicines
Sebastian Guth, chief operating officer of Bayer’s pharmaceutical division and board member of a US industry lobby group, explained that European leaders are willing to revise pricing policies if this would facilitate rapid access to new treatments. “If we look at the innovative drugs that have been launched and approved in the last 10 years, Americans have access to 80% of them, while Europeans have access to less than 50%. There is a very significant structural lag in Europe”Guth said.
European countries pay, on average, a third less than the US because their national health systems negotiate drug prices and can delay purchases to get better costs. Marshall Gordon, senior healthcare analyst at ClearBridge Investments, explained that pressure on European politicians to raise prices “it won’t immediately translate into higher costs. You can’t suddenly force Europeans to spend more. But these agreements give companies bargaining power“.
Pharmaceutical industry warnings and concessions
Several major manufacturers, including AstraZeneca, Novartis and Sanofi, have warned that Europe risks losing access to new drugs unless governments change the way health systems evaluate and pay for these treatments. “We have already seen progress with the US-UK agreement announced at the end of last year, and it is encouraging to see the Trump administration continue this collaboration with other nations to address the problem of other countries profiting unjustly from American innovationssaid Sarah Ryan, a spokeswoman for PhRMA.
In 2025, 14 drug companies struck deals with the Trump administration to lower the prices of some drugs sold to Medicaid and for cash-paying patients. In return, they received a three-year exemption from the threat of high tariffs on their products.
Possible delays in European releases
Gareth Powell, head of healthcare investments at Polar Capital, warned that some new drugs could be launched in the US first and delayed in Europe. “That could mean that, at least for a few years until the end of Trump’s term, these products will simply not be released in Europe”Powell said.
A Washington lobbyist pointed out that European governments are reluctant to make major concessions to the United States, especially in the context of controversial decisions by the Trump administration, such as the attempt to buy Greenland. “It’s not as if the Trump administration has done a series of things that have made Europeans happy and willing to be nice to him. He’s antagonizing them.”he added.
