WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled agreements with nine major pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices of medicines sold to the Medicaid program. To some cash-paying patients, a move the White House says will bring U.S. drug costs closer to those in other wealthy nations.

The companies signing the deals include Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Merck, and Roche's U.S. unit Genentech, as well as Novartis, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi, and GSK.

"We were subsidizing the entire world. We're not doing it anymore," Trump said at a White House press conference, flanked by senior executives from the participating drugmakers.

U.S. patients pay the highest prescription drug prices globally, often nearly three times more than consumers in other developed countries. Trump has repeatedly pressured pharmaceutical companies to cut prices and align them with international levels.

Despite the announcement, shares of most participating drugmakers rose between 1 percent and 3 percent. Investors appeared to focus on the removal of Trump's threat to impose tariffs for three years and downplayed the impact of price cuts that the White House said could reach as much as 70 percent off list prices. Analysts noted that companies already offer significant rebates, with Medicaid discounts exceeding 80 percent in some cases.

"These deals reaffirm that the pharma leaders have taken this opportunity to collaborate with this administration to deliver headlines and minimize any step-change in company economics from these deals," Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen said, adding that Gilead is likely the largest beneficiary due to its exposure to Medicaid.

Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Regeneron, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie would visit the White House after the holidays to launch the TrumpRx website. All three companies confirmed they were in discussions with the administration.

Under the agreements, drugmakers will cut prices on most medicines sold through Medicaid, with officials promising "massive savings" on widely used drugs. The deals also include lower direct-to-consumer prices for select medicines sold through TrumpRx.gov and other platforms, commitments to launch new U.S. drugs at prices equal to those in other wealthy countries, and pledges to expand manufacturing. In return, companies receive a three-year exemption from tariffs.

Most insured Americans pay fixed co-pays or co-insurance tied to list prices and may not benefit directly from TrumpRx, which directs cash-paying consumers to manufacturers' websites.

Merck said it will sell its diabetes drugs Januvia, Janumet, and Janumet XR directly to U.S. consumers at about 70 percent off list prices, and would offer its experimental cholesterol drug enlicitide through direct-to-consumer channels if approved. An executive from Bristol Myers said the company would provide its blood thinner, Eliquis, to Medicaid at no cost.

Amgen said it will offer Aimovig and Amjevita at US$299 a month through its direct-to-patient program, while Sanofi said its TrumpRx offerings would deliver average savings of about 70 percent.

Drugmakers also committed to "most-favored-nation" pricing for new U.S. launches across commercial, government, and cash-pay markets, including Medicare. Officials said the companies pledged more than $150 billion in U.S. investment for research, development, and manufacturing, with Merck contributing $70 billion, and some agreed to donate drug ingredients to the U.S. strategic reserve.