Trump announces deal to lower price of obesity drugs in the US.

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday (6) agreements with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to reduce prices of weight loss drugs used in treatments against diabetes and obesity.

Both companies “agreed to offer their most popular weight-loss drug, GLP-1,” Trump said, “at drastic discounts.”

The new generation of appetite suppressant medications that utilize the GLP-1 molecule has gained great popularity due to its effectiveness in helping people lose weight.

The cost of a month's treatment with these medications in the United States can exceed $1,000 (R$5,340).

This agreement brokered by the White House will reduce the cost of initial oral doses of GLP-1 to about $150 (801 reais) for certain groups of people, a figure that a senior U.S. official said is “approximately one-ninth of the current price.”

This price will apply to those who are in Medicare, the health program for retirees, in the Medicaid social security program, or through the TrumpRx website, which is a recently launched platform for consumers, the official added.

Trump made efforts to lower drug prices a central focus of his second term.

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