White House announces IVF drug pricing deal for ‘TrumpRx’ site
By Sarah Owermohle, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday announced an agreement to sell common fertility drugs at steeply reduced prices on TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer drug platform the White House plans to launch in January 2026.
Under the plan, cost to patients for three in vitro fertilization (IVF) drugs made by EMD Serono, the US arm of German company Merck KGaA, could be reduced by more than 70%, Trump and administration officials said.
The drugs, sold under the brand names Gonal-F, Ovidrel and Cetrotide, currently typically cost $5,000 per IVF cycle, the president said.
“As part of this agreement, EMD Serono will list their fertility drugs online at TrumpRx.gov at very, very heavily reduced prices — prices that you won’t even believe,” Trump said, calling the company largest fertility drug manufacturer in the world.
Flanked by officials including Dr. Mehmet Oz, his Medicare and Medicaid administrator, and Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, Trump also previewed a plan to spur employers to offer more IVF coverage to their employees.
The actions come approximately eight months after Trump’s promise, in a February executive order, to expand access to IVF and reduce its cost.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca also signed agreements in recent weeks with the administration to offer drugs on TrumpRx as part of multipart deals earning reprieves from higher tariffs on imported products.
Likewise, the EMD Serono deal would include a reprieve from certain tariffs in exchange for manufacturing and research investment in the US. “We are committed to working with the US administration to add value over the long term, ensuring that our patients and customers continue to have access to and benefit from the innovations within our portfolio,” Belén Garijo, the Merck KGaA CEO, said.
Administration officials also noted in a call with reporters that the manufacturer is interested in bringing another fertility medicine to the US market, and could get a speedier review from the Food and Drug Administration as a result of the drug pricing deal.
Trump said he is encouraging employers to improve IVF access through health insurance plans that offer elective add-on insurance—akin to vision or dental plans.
“There’s no deeper happiness and joy of raising children, and now millions of Americans struggling with infertility will have a new chance to share the greatest experience of them all,” he said.
However, employers are not being compelled to offer IVF coverage, nor will there be a requirement for government or insurance company coverage.
The insurance announcement falls well short of a campaign promise Trump made to ensure universal free IVF coverage for those seeking it. “Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for — or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for — all costs associated with IVF treatment,” he told supporters at a campaign stop last August.
IVF involves costs beyond drugs and can average between $20,000 and $30,000 per treatment cycle. Nearly half of companies with 500 or more employees covered IVF in their broadest health care plans in 2024, according to a Mercer survey— more than double the number of similar-sized companies that covered IVF in 2019.
However, smaller companies—those with fewer than 500 employees—are far less likely to offer the benefit, according to data from health research nonprofit KFF.
An administration official said they expect employers will want to add on IVF benefits being proposed by the White House because it will make them “competitive for talent.”
Roughly 60% of women aged 30 to 44 get their health insurance through their employer, “making this the greatest possible expansion opportunity from a federal action probably ever,” the official said.
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