UPDATE 1-Trump to announce Pfizer drug price cuts

(Adds details on spending in paragraph 3, background in paragraphs 4-5) WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump will announce on Tuesday that Pfizer plans to lower prices on several of its medications in the United States, a White House official said. The White House is also planning to unveil a direct-to-consumer website for Americans to buy drugs, called TrumpRx, the official added. Pfizer will launch sales of some of its drugs direct to consumers through that website. Pfizer will also announce a $70 billion push on research and development and domestic manufacturing, the official said. Trump in July told 17 leading drug companies to match their much lower overseas prices – a policy the president has called Most Favored Nation pricing. He asked them to respond with binding commitments by September 29. Pfizer is the first company to announce a deal. The U.S. has been in one-on-one talks with the companies, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said at a cabinet meeting last month, adding that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was using the threat of tariffs on the industry for additional leverage. (Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jarrett Rensshaw in Washington)

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