TrumpRx launches; some experts question its long-term value

TrumpRx, the government’s new direct-to-consumer drug portal, has officially launched in the United States.

It provides links to 43 brand-name medications at manufacturer-specific discounts, including weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are both available starting at $199 a month for the pen applicator, according to the TrumpRx website.

Discounted pricing is only available for cash-paying patients, a program already adopted by some pharmaceutical companies. For example, Novo already sells injectable Wegovy at the same starting price as TrumpRx.

This has led some to question the long-term cost efficiency of the program, specifically when compared with traditional insurance or other discount drug programs.

“First—Trump Rx shows the list price of the drug and then shows the amount you'd pay through Trump Rx. It gives a percentage difference, but that can be misleading because once you've met your insurance deductible, you will end up paying much l​ess ​through insurance ​t​han you would ​be paying monthly without insurance.” William Soliman, Ph.D., CEO of Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs, “Secondly, payments on the platform don’t count towards their deductible. So long-term this may not be sustainable if you're on many drugs. Which many older Americans are."

Anna Kaltenboeck, health economist and CEO of Verdant Research, added her own skepticism in a LinkedIn post.

“As of yesterday's launch, it lists 43 drugs marketed by 5 companies,” Kaltenboeck writes. “Most of the products are quite old: the median time on the market is 26 years. Twenty-six (60%) have generics available. Listed products comprised less than 10% of total U.S. 2024 sales for 3 of the 5 companies. (But note: we were unable to get sales estimates for 17 of the products—this is usually a problem we run into when sales volumes are low.) The drugs listed by Lilly and Novo Nordisk are GLP-1s and contribute 16% and 73% of 2024 U.S. sales, respectively.”

In another LinkedIn post by Mark Johnston, senior vice president of innovation and strategy at InfoVision Inc., Johnston calls TrumpRx “essentially a government-branded discount portal.”

Drugs on TrumpRx will be listed from AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer, which are the first five manufacturers to reach Most Favored Nation pricing deals with the Trump Administration, an official White House statement reads.

More than 30 Pfizer drugs are now available on TrumpRx, including Xeljanz, starting at a 51% discount of $1,518 per month, and Zavzpret, at $594.84, at a 50% discount.

EMD Serono’s full infertility medication portfolio will be available, which includes Gonal-f (follitropin alfa for injection), Ovidrel (choriogonadotropin alfa injection) and Cetrotide (cetrorelix acetate for injection). The portfolio was released to align with the “Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization” Executive Order, which aims to position infertility as a medical condition that requires federal support. It was signed on Feb. 18, 2025.

Only patients with an active prescription can access drugs on the TrumpRx website. After finding their medication on the website, patients take a coupon into a pharmacy of their choice.

Whether TrumpRx becomes a meaningful tool for drug affordability or a limited stopgap will likely depend on future manufacturer participation, transparency around pricing, and how the program fits into broader federal health policy goals.