Published
October 29, 2025
Every day, American pharmaceutical companies are hard at work on the next big breakthrough that will help cure disease and illness. We take this research and development that leads to regular advances for granted, but imagine a world in which this isn’t happening, and new cures are no longer being found. This is the risk posed by Most-Favored Nation (MFN) pricing for medicine, which imposes the same price controls in America that some other countries have in place.
The goal of MFN pricing is to reduce prescription costs, and it is a worthy one. We share concerns about high costs, and we believe that policymakers should address them. But imposing foreign price caps would jeopardize the innovation that has made the United States a global leader in life sciences. At a time when companies are making unprecedented commitments to build and manufacture domestically, MFN risks undermining that momentum, ultimately leaving patients and the economy to bear the cost.
A recent report by Vital Transformation highlights the devastating impact MFN pricing could have on the U.S. economy and the life science sector, including the loss of millions of jobs. Coupled with findings from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Patient Access Report and Research Deserts Report, the evidence is clear: price controls like MFN are a step in the wrong direction.
Undermining Biopharmaceutical Investment
America’s leadership in biopharmaceutical innovation is no accident. It is the result of a free market-based system that incentivizes risky and costly long-term investment in research and development (R&D) to bring new medicines to patients. The U.S. accounts for 20% of global clinical trials, despite representing only 4% of the world’s population. This robust R&D ecosystem has made the U.S. a global leader in medical innovation, with 85% of new medicines entering the American market between 2012 and 2021.
MFN pricing, however, would erode these incentives. The Vital Transformation report estimates that such policies could reduce U.S. life sciences R&D spending by 18.5% and cut clinical trial activity by up to 75%. Clinical drug trials are already expensive, often taking decades to yield returns. If manufacturers are not incentivized to bring new drugs to market, innovation will stall. This would not only delay the development of new treatments but also shift investment to countries with more favorable policies, further diminishing America’s competitive edge. Worse still, MFN pricing robs Americans of potential medical breakthroughs, including cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes.
President Trump has argued that the U.S. leads the charge in pharmaceutical innovation, funding much of the world’s progress in this field. MFN pricing would jeopardize this leadership, disincentivizing manufacturers from developing new drugs and taking us one step backward in the race to cure cancer and other deadly diseases.
The Cost to Patients: Delayed Access to Life-Saving Medicines
Countries that have implemented price controls serve as cautionary tales. In Germany, patients wait an average of 133 days to access new treatments, while in Spain, the delay can be as long as 500 days. In Canada, wait times for new drugs are so long that some patients move to the U.S. to access treatments more quickly. These delays are compounded by the additional intermediaries and bureaucratic hurdles that price controls introduce, slowing the process even further. By importing these policies, the U.S. risks subjecting its patients to similar delays, depriving them of timely access to life-saving medicines.
The U.S. Chamber’s research underscores the importance of maintaining a system that rewards innovation and warns that price controls could lead to fewer biopharmaceutical product launches, particularly in critical areas like oncology and rare diseases. Just because other countries adopt bad policies does not mean the U.S. should follow suit. Instead, we must protect the innovation ecosystem that has made the U.S. a global leader in life sciences.
The Economic Toll of Price Controls
The U.S. life sciences industry is a cornerstone of the American economy. However, MFN pricing would lead to a decline in innovation that impacts not just patients but threatens up to 2.2 million jobs in the biopharmaceutical sector and its supply chain. The loss of these high-skilled, high-paying jobs would not only hurt local communities but also weaken our national economy.
A Call to Action
The stakes are too high to ignore. MFN and other forms of price controls may promise short-term savings, but the long-term costs—jobs, innovation, and patient access—are far greater.
MFN policies do not just impact pharmaceutical manufacturers—they also disincentivize innovation, slow the development of new treatments, and ultimately harm patients. Instead of adopting policies that undermine the U.S. life science industry, policymakers should focus on market-based solutions that lower costs while preserving the incentives that drive medical breakthroughs.
Related Reading:
About the authors
Brad Watts
Brad Watts is the Senior Vice President at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC). He works with U.S. Chamber members to foster a political, legal, and economic environment where innovators and creators can invest in the next big thing for the benefit of Americans and the world.
Lexi Branson
Lexi Branson serves as Vice President of Health Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where she leads the Chamber’s Health Policy Division.
