Last May, in a highly anticipated speech in the sun-drenched White House Rose Garden, President Trump laid out his long-awaited plan to lower drug prices. Democrats dismissed the proposals as toothless and well short of the president’s campaign promises to allow the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare while promoting the importation of medicines from abroad. But chief executives of drug companies are not so sanguine. Administration officials “want a win, they want a victory,” said a person at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) meeting, who reported that the administration “went ballistic” when Pfizer increased prices a few weeks ago. Pfizer deferred the price increases after Mr. Trump criticized the company and put pressure on its chairman and chief executive, Ian C. Read (Robert Pear, New York Times)
