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President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a plan to link government payments for medicines to lower prices paid abroad and another to eliminate rebates, in a last-ditch effort to deliver on a 2016 campaign promise to slash drug prices. ... [He also accused] Pfizer "and others" of delaying vaccine trial results for political reasons — without offering evidence to support the accusation. "The drug companies don't like me too much, but we had to do it," he said. "I just hope they keep it. I hope they have the courage the keep it, because the powerful drug lobby, big pharma, is putting pressure on people like you wouldn't believe." (Owermohle, 11/20)

During a 22-minute press conference, Trump ran through a laundry list of drug price efforts his administration undertook in his four years in office. Many, however, remain in the proposal stage, were stopped by courts or had little impact. Prices have continued to rise, though the pace has slowed under his presidency. ... Pharmaceutical industry groups immediately criticized the rules, promising to consider all options to stop the measures. PhRMA, the drug makers' lobbying group, said that the most-favored-nation rule will threaten medical innovation in the US and harm patients.(Luhby, 11/20)

The Trump administration is trying to overhaul some providers' payments for outpatient drugs in six weeks as it makes a last-ditch attempt to finalize drug-pricing policies that have languished in regulatory limbo. A model through the Center for Medicare and Medicare Innovation announced Friday would require mandatory participation from healthcare providers starting Jan. 1, 2021, though there are several categories of exceptions. The model would change providers' payment for administering drugs from a percentage of a drug's average sales price to a flat fee and tie reimbursement to prices charged in foreign countries. (Cohrs, 11/20)

The Trump administration plans to end the Unapproved Drug Initiative as officials look to close a loophole that inflated healthcare costs by billions of dollars a year and led to drug shortages. HHS withdrew guidance documents Friday afternoon that were issued as part of the initiative designed to boost patient safety, but instead was used as a means to profit off decades-old drugs. It is set to take effect in 30 days. (Kacik, 11/20)

Amid increasing debate over the cost of prescription drugs, a federal watchdog agency found the National Institutes of Health does not consider whether a medicine it discovered and licensed to a pharmaceutical company may later be affordable, and also fails to provide enough information about its licensing activities to assess patient access. (Silverman, 11/20)