Joe Jimenez optimistic on outcome of US drug pricing debate

Joe Jimenez, the chief executive of Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) and chairman-elect of US trade group PhRMA, has said that he expects Donald Trump’s administration to come back with proposals on making prescription drugs more affordable for Americans within three months.

Following up on his talks with the newly-elected President in January along with other pharma bosses, Mr Jimenez said that there was a further meeting with administration officials in May, and he seemed confident that policy changes would not hurt the research and development (R&D) model that allows the industry to bring new drugs to the market.

“The US pricing situation, as everybody knows, is quite volatile,” Mr Jimenez told members of the media during a Meet Novartis Management investor event on Wednesday. “There was a lot of rhetoric about drug pricing during the election campaign and there continues to be some, but not as much.”