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Originally a trade term, Most-Favored-Nation status aims to ensure equal treatment among trading partners. In medication pricing, its goal is that the U.S. will get the best deal available globally. Specifically, MFN prescription drug pricing ties cost in the U.S. to the lowest price paid by other wealthy nations — such as Canada, Germany, or the U.K., for example — for the same medication. The White House announced on Nov. 6 that certain weight-loss drugs — including those manufactured by U.S-based Eli Lilly (LLY) and Denmark’s Novo Nordisk (NVO) — will be sold implementing MFN realities to Medicare patients at dramatically reduced prices. Eli Lilly (Zepbound, Mounjaro) and Novo Nordisk (Ozempic, Wegovy) have sold GLP-1s treating obesity in the U.S. for about $1,000 per month without insurance. Under the new Medicare arrangement, beneficiaries will pay a co-pay of $50 per month, according to the White House. State Medicaid programs will also have access to these medications at lower cost. The drugs will soon be available at reduced prices through TrumpRx, a federal drug pricing initiative set to launch in early 2026. Major drug company executives are assessing the impact of these developments on the pharmaceutical marketplace in general, their companies and the patients who stand to benefit from better affordability. Mark Cuban reacts to drug price, Medicare changes Cost Plus Drug Company — co-founded by businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban and radiologist Alexander Oshmyansky — explains that it began as an effort to disrupt the drug industry and to do its best to end “ridiculous” drug prices. To that end, Cuban sees the introduction of MFN status to weight-loss medications under Medicare as positive news. More on weight-loss drugs: Mark Cuban has compelling words about Ozempic and Cost Plus Drugs Ozempic, weight-loss drugs rise and the fitness industry reacts How anti-obesity drugs force a change of focus on health “There is no downside to running it out,” Cuban wrote in an email to TheStreet. He briefly explained his view about how his company reacts in general to cost-reduction developments in the U.S. “As far as Cost Plus goals, our mission is to be the low-cost provider for as many drugs as possible,” Cuban said. Extending his comments to the anticipated arrival of TrumpRx next year, Cuban added a thought about the patients his company serves. “Anything, like TrumpRx, that helps us reach more patients and lower their costs is a huge plus,” he stressed. Weight-loss drug CEO calls Medicare action ‘encouraging’ Currax Pharmaceuticals offers an alternative to GLP-1 medications to combat obesity. Its drug Contrave is an oral medication (not injected) that targets brain pathways related to hunger and reward, while GLP-1s mimic a gut hormone to regulate appetite and blood sugar. The company’s CEO George Hampton offered extensive remarks on the Trump administration’s move to lower prices for weight-loss drugs in the U.S. and make them more widely available. “I think this is the greatest thing for patients suffering from obesity because they’ve never really had access to care. And as a result, this has become our nation’s number one epidemic,” he said in interview with TheStreet. “And it’s so encouraging to see an administration really understanding what obesity is costing this country, understanding what it’s costing individuals and then actually opening up therapy to these patients.” “There are 52 million patients in Medicare and there are a whole bunch of people in Medicaid. And so, both of these populations are going to have access,” Hampton continued. “And my hunch is it’ll put tremendous pressure on the commercial lives (affecting people with commercial insurance) to now start covering obesity because the last thing Medicare wants to do is inherit sick people into the Medicare program.” Hampton described Contrave as the nation’s number one branded oral medication, and explained that it is a key part of treating obesity in the long term. “And then you start looking for what the administration has been asking us for some time now,” he said. “They want most-favored-nation pricing. We’ve been there with our direct-to-patient pricing at $99 per month shipped to their home for a very long time. They want U.S. manufacturing.” “We’ve moved all of our R&D and manufacturing of our future products that are coming to the United States. So, we are fully an American company, even though we operate in 60 different countries,” Hampton added. Hampton: Contrave is the low-cost leader Hampton explained that even after the negotiated price with the GLP1s, the Contrave price is still 50% to 100% less than those products. “It is still the low-cost leader in that space bringing you what we would say is the most value,” he said. “We’ve had a direct sale model in place for six years now.” “Trump RX is fantastic,” Hampton said. “We’re working to get in that. We basically have a plug-and-play model to go right into that. But we were one of the first people doing this six years ago. In fact, we were doing it well before Lilly or Nova even thought about it.” “We feel like we’re in a very very good spot,” he continued. “We don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be participating in this.” Hampton followed up with a thought about the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) — a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Congress aimed at expanding Medicare coverage for obesity treatments, including anti-obesity medications and behavioral therapy. “This administration is the first administration really to come in this strong on saying obesity is a disease,” he said. “It needs to be treated. It’s our nation’s number one epidemic and frankly it’s treatable now with very good medications, with lifestyle modification, with services. This is something that we can go after.” “But the piece that I think that people aren’t talking about yet is that we must still pass TROA,” he added. “We need to pass TROA sooner than later so we can codify this into law.” The White House outlines terms of new weight-loss drug deal
