Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, speaks in the Oval Office during an event on weight loss drugs at the White House in Washington, Nov. 6, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | fake images
Eli Lilly opposes White House pressure to codify “most favored nation” drug pricing into law, CEO Dave Ricks said in an interview with CNBC.
Lilly is one of more than a dozen drugmakers that signed deals with the Trump administration last year agreeing to charge similar prices for prescription drugs in the United States and other wealthy nations. President Donald Trump has long complained that Americans pay high prices to subsidize low drug prices in the rest of the world.
The pharmaceutical industry thought the agreements would allay those concerns and thwart attempts to enact “most favored nation” pricing into law. But in recent months the White House has pressed Congress to codify elements of the agreements. The draft text has not been shared publicly, although the administration has said it is trying to get pharmaceutical companies to support the effort.
Lilly doesn't support it, Ricks said.
“When you put this into the congressional process, what goes in is not what comes out,” Ricks said. “And I think we see a lot of people who would rather lower prices today and not worry about whether we'll have new drugs tomorrow, not worry about whether America will have a strong pharmaceutical industry and we'll be able to do research in this country. And I'm worried about those things, so I don't think that's a great idea, and we've been pretty clear with the administration and congressional leaders about that.”
Ricks said he believes the Trump administration and leadership on Capitol Hill are listening to the company's concerns, but said Lilly will use “every tool we have to fight bad policy, and we believe it would be bad policy.”
