Big Pharma announced a series of groundbreaking agreements with the White House in 2025. But how much of it is just for show? Swissinfo looks at the figures behind the headlines. On October 10, the White House announced a deal between the United States and the British pharma giant, AstraZeneca, that included a $50 billion (CHF38.8 billion) investment in the US and the creation of 3,600 jobs. The press release also mentioned discounted prices for American patients and an asthma inhaler that would be sold at a “discount equal to 654%”. The statement was scarce on details. The new price of the inhaler was not revealed, neither was how much Americans would be paying for AstraZeneca drugs. The company’s own press release only mentioned discounts of up to 80%. The deal came ten days after a similar agreement with US drug manufacturer Pfizer, and was followed by a flurry of press releases made by nine executives from the world’s biggest drug companies, on their visit to the White House on ...
