MFN Program Grows to 26 Drugmakers as Nine More Commit to $19.6B in US Manufacturing

President Donald J. Trump announced nine new Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers on August 31, bringing the program’s total roster to 26 companies. The administration says that group now accounts for 89% of the branded drug market,1 a milestone with direct implications for how supply chain and market access teams plan pricing, procurement, and Medicaid formulary strategy heading into 2027.

Nine more manufacturers sign on

The newly announced participants are a group of mid-sized manufacturers:

• Alcon
• Astellas Pharma
• BeOne Medicines
• BridgeBio
• CSL
• Kyowa Kirin
• Sun Pharma
• Teva Pharmaceuticals
• UCB

The products affected span a wide swath of costly and chronic therapeutic areas, including hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration, glaucoma, liver disease, dermatologic conditions, and multiple cancers.1 Under the deals, every state Medicaid program gains access to MFN pricing on these companies’ products, which the White House projects will translate into billions of dollars in aggregate savings.1 A companion White House fact sheet frames the agreements as closing off the ability of other countries to use price controls to benefit from American drug innovation without paying comparable prices.1

Manufacturing and supply chain commitments take center stage

For supply chain and commercialization leaders, the more consequential piece may be what’s attached to the pricing deals rather than the pricing itself. The nine companies have collectively pledged at least $19.6 billion in near-term U.S. manufacturing investment, and several are directing material toward the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve, a stockpile meant to reduce dependence on foreign API sources and buffer against future supply disruptions.1

Individual contributions include:

• UCB: 163 tons of levetiracetam, an anticonvulsant
• Sun Pharma: 71.4 tons of clindamycin and 6.75 tons of doxycycline, both antibiotics
• Teva Pharmaceuticals: 45 metric tons of metronidazole (antibiotic/antiprotozoal) and 4.8 tons of amlodipine (antihypertensive)
• Astellas: 25 kg of tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant used in transplant care

For sourcing and procurement teams, these donations are worth tracking as an early signal of how manufacturers may reallocate API supply commitments going forward.

What it means for market access

The Medicaid provisions are the piece most relevant to market access and payer-strategy teams, though industry watchers caution the practical effect on patients may be limited. Lindsay Bealor Greenleaf, head of market access policy strategy at ADVI, told our sister publication Pharmaceutical Executive that Medicaid patients typically already pay only $4 to $8 out of pocket, and that the financial impact of the voluntary deals falls on manufacturers rather than patients. That distinction matters for commercialization planners weighing how MFN participation will affect net pricing and rebate structures rather than front-line patient access.

The road to 26 agreements

The nine deals build on momentum going back to May 2025, when the MFN executive order was signed, followed two months later by letters sent to 17 major manufacturers directing them to bring U.S. list prices in line with the lowest price charged in other developed markets.2 According to the White House, all 17 of those companies have since signed on.1 Combined with today’s additions, the MFN roster now includes Pfizer, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Regeneron, Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and UCB.1

What remains undone

Even with 26 manufacturers now committed, the administration is pushing Congress to pass the Great Healthcare Plan, broader legislation aimed at lowering drug prices and insurance premiums, increasing accountability for insurers, and expanding price transparency.3 Unlike the manufacturer-by-manufacturer MFN deals, that agenda depends on legislative action, meaning its outcome, and any further supply chain or market access implications, rests with lawmakers rather than executive negotiation.

References

1. Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Announces Deal with Nine Additional Pharmaceutical Manufacturers to Lower Drug Prices for Americans, The White House, August 31, 2026. View source

2. White House to announce new drug pricing deals with biotechs, Bloomberg News reports, Reuters, August 26, 2026. View source

3. Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Calls on Congress to Enact The Great Healthcare Plan, The White House, January 15, 2026. View source

Source link

US manufacturing pipeline grows, firms plan $1B in new factories

A wave of new manufacturing projects announced in recent weeks underscores continued capital investment across the U.S., with companies in heavy equipment, advanced electronics, automation and industrial components committing around $1 billion combined in new facilities and expansions.

From North Carolina to Texas to Idaho and Wisconsin, manufacturers are breaking ground on large-scale plants expected to create thousands of jobs while reshoring or expanding domestic production capacity.

Deere & Co. announced plans to open two new facilities: a distribution center near Hebron, Indiana, and a $70 million excavator factory in Kernersville, North Carolina.

According to the company’s news release, the Indiana distribution center is expected to create about 150 jobs and strengthen parts logistics nationwide. The North Carolina plant will employ more than 150 people and will assume production of next-generation excavators previously manufactured in Japan, marking a shift of that production to the U.S.

The excavator factory is part of Deere’s broader commitment to invest $20 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the next decade, the company said.

Radar platform company Echodyne is investing $40 million in a new 86,350-square-foot manufacturing facility in Kirkland, Washington.

The new plant is designed to produce and ship more than 30,000 radars annually across product lines. The company said it expects to employ more than 200 workers when the facility reaches full capacity, with production scheduled to begin in summer 2026.

The expansion comes amid growing global demand for counter-drone, border security and defense-related radar technologies.

In Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI) broke ground on a 210,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will support production of optical networking products for AI data centers and broadband networks.

AOI said it plans to increase its total investment in the project and headquarters campus from $150 million to potentially $300 million by the end of next year. The company has committed to creating 500 local jobs tied to automated production lines.

Executives positioned the expansion as part of Texas’ broader push to become a leader in artificial intelligence infrastructure manufacturing.

Sanko Texas Corp., a subsidiary of a Japanese plastics manufacturer, plans to build a nearly $40 million plant on a 43.7-acre site in San Antonio.

The facility — which will serve as Sanko’s first U.S. manufacturing plant and its U.S. headquarters — is expected to create up to 300 jobs once fully ramped, beginning with about 100 hires in early 2028, according to the San Antonio Express News.

Sanko produces plastic injection-molded pallets and containers commonly used in automotive assembly lines and industrial supply chains.

Preciball USA announced a $17.6 million investment to build a new factory in Sylvania, Screven County, Georgia, according to a news release.

The plant will manufacture precision balls used in bearings, pumps and valves, and is expected to create 65 jobs. The project expands the company’s footprint in Georgia, complementing its existing headquarters operations in Pooler.

Industrial automation giant Rockwell Automation selected New Berlin, Wisconsin, as the site of a new manufacturing campus described as a “factory of the future.”

The planned greenfield facility is expected to exceed 1 million square feet of factory and warehouse space and is part of a broader five-year, $2 billion domestic manufacturing investment strategy, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

While job figures have not yet been disclosed, company leadership characterized the project as potentially becoming Rockwell’s largest manufacturing campus globally.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) has begun site preparation for a new 250,000-square-foot electronic device manufacturing facility in Moscow, Idaho.

The $50 million investment will expand production of devices used to monitor and protect electric power systems worldwide. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to employ approximately 1,000 people, with phased hiring beginning in 2027.

Fresh meal and technology provider Tovala recently announced a new 140,340 square-foot food processing facility in Winfield, Illinois to meet growing demand.

Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group will develop the state-of-the-art facility as a build-to-suit project, with construction scheduled to begin in March 2026 and completion expected in the second quarter of 2027. The project marks Brennan’s fourth build-to-suit development in the food service sector.

The post US manufacturing pipeline grows, firms plan $1B in new factories appeared first on FreightWaves.

Source link