How to think of Trump’s pharmaceutical rates – before hitting

Ed Silverman, main writer and pharmotal chronicler at Stat, has covered the pharmaceutical industry for almost three decades.

For weeks, President Trump clearly said that the prices will be slapped on pharmaceutical products. But it’s about the only thing that is clear.

For the moment, its administration has opened an official survey which would determine to what extent the import of these products represents a risk of national security – then decide on the extent of the prices and the way they will be applied. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry, investors and consumers wonder what to expect – and how much prices can cost them more.

There are various possibilities to unpack, such as the origins of active pharmaceutical ingredients and the types of drugs more likely to increase the price than others. There are also maneuvers that pharmaceutical companies can do – pricing strategies for production production – in order to mitigate the impact and there is the extent to which certain drugs, namely generics, may remain available.