TrumpRx drug website doesn’t include generic drugs

Trump officially launches TrumpRx prescription drug website

President Donald Trump officially launched a new government website, TrumpRx, aimed at helping Americans buy medicines at lower prices.

For months, President Donald Trump and his aides touted efforts to lower prescription drug prices for Americans. Now consumers can check prices at the recently launched TrumpRx.gov website.

“This is a very big deal,” Trump said Feb. 5 when announcing the launch. “People are going to save a lot of money and be healthy.”

But analysts say the Trump administration’s consumer drug-pricing site might not deliver lower drug prices for most Americans.

A key pillar of his administration’s efforts to address health affordability, TrumpRx so far includes brand name fertility, insulin, weight loss and other medications from five pharmaceutical companies. And while these drugs are discounted from their list prices, nearly half of the medications on TrumpRx have generic equivalents that can be purchased elsewhere, often at lower prices.

The website doesn’t note the distinction, only stating consumers can “find the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs.”

Of the 43 brand name drugs on TrumpRx, 20 have generic versions that can be purchased at other pharmacies or direct-to-consumer websites, according to Sarah Karlin-Smith, research director at Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program. Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.

Karlin-Smith said she did the analysis to inform the public there might be cheaper alternatives with prices listed at consumer sites such as GoodRx and Cost Plus Drugs.

“I wouldn’t want a consumer who is unfamiliar with the broader pricing system to think getting one of these older, brand-name drugs is a good deal,” Karlin-Smith said.

For example, TrumpRx lists Pfizer’s heartburn and reflux drug Protnix for a price of $200.10, a discount of more than 50% from the medication’s list price.

However, the generic version of this drug can be paired with a coupon and purchased for $11.68 at Safeway or $15.61 at Walmart, according to GoodRx, a consumer prescription drug pricing app.

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban said his company, Cost Plus Drugs, delivers lower prices on 90% of the medications listed on TrumpRx. A major reason: Cost Plus Drugs carries generics.

“They added a bunch of brands that have generics,” Cuban said in a social media post. “So we beat them there. Usually by a lot.”

Still, Cuban said TrumpRx “crushed it” on fertility drug prices. Cetrotide, an injectable medication used for in vitro fertilization, is listed for $22.50 on TrumpRx. A generic version of the drug is listed for $49.50 on Cost Plus Drugs and more than $300 at chain pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens.

A White House official said while some generics might be cheaper, TrumpRx aims to offer the lowest prices for branded drugs. The site currently offers brand-name drugs from the first five pharmaceutical companies that negotiated “most favored nation” pricing deals with the Trump administration. Another 11 companies later negotiated pricing deals, and products from those companies will be added to TrumpRx, a White House official said.

Who will use TrumpRx?

Consumers with a prescription can visit the site and browse among the products listed. The website doesn’t process insurance claims and only includes prices for cash-paying customers. Consumers can’t directly order the drugs from the website. Instead, there are instructions for each drug, referring consumers to manufacturers websites or coupons that can be used at local pharmacies.

TrumpRx will likely appeal to a narrow group of people, said Dr. Benjamin Rome, a Harvard Medical School professor.

People without health insurance – or those who are “underinsured” with high-deductible insurance plans that require they typically spend thousands before their coverage kicks in – are more likely to shop there, Rome said.

Those with robust coverage likely will use their insurance to fill their prescriptions.

“It’s not going to be particularly helpful for most people who use prescription drugs because most people purchase their drugs through their insurance,” Rome said.

Can consumers get discounts on weight-loss drugs?

Consumers have struggled to afford weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound due to spotty health insurance coverage.

Slightly more than half of large employers that provide health insurance to workers and their families don’t cover GLP-1 drugs for obesity.

A survey by benefits consultant Mercer found large employers are gradually adding coverage for weight loss medications. In 2025, 49% of large employers covered GLP-1 medications, up from 44% in 2024 and 41% in 2023. So even consumers with insurance might not get coverage for these blockbuster medicines.

TrumpRx lists discount prices for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy injectable version and weight-loss pill as well as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound shot. But the TrumpRx prices for the popular weight-loss drugs are identical to what Novo and Lilly charge cash-paying customers.

For example, TrumpRx charges $299 for a 2.5 mg single-dose vial of Zepbound. That is the same price Lilly charges customers who buy directly from the company.

Novo Nordisk offers the same prices through TrumpRx, Novo’s pharmacy, retailers and telehealth resellers. For new customers, Novo sells .25 mg and .5 mg versions of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199 for the first two months. The price increases to $349 for the third month of refills.

Lilly and Novo have been pressured by Trump administration to lower the prices of their weight loss and diabetes medications. In a deal announced Nov. 6, Trump said Medicare would cover Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound for millions of older adults.

Novo and Lilly agreed to sell the medications to Medicare at an average price of $245 per monthly dose. Medicare enrollees would be charged a monthly copay of $50 to get the weight loss drugs. Medicare expects to launch coverage of the medications in the spring or summer of 2026.

Eliminating drug-pricing middlemen?

Analysts say the launch of TrumpRx underscores the growing roll of direct-to-consumer drug sites.

The pharmaceutical industry historically has relied on several intermediaries from the drug factory to a consumer’s medicine cabinet.

Drug-pricing middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers guide medication from the factory to retail pharmacy. PBMS, in particular, have been scrutinized for their role in drug pricing and influencing consumers access to medications through drug formularies, the list of prescription drugs consumers can get through a health insurance plan.

Kelly Griffin, director of PwC’s Health Policy and Intelligence Institute, said consumer sites such as TrumpRx give consumers more transparency on drug pricing.

“Any time you change the vantage point, particularly for consumers, you change the power,” said Griffin, who added such information can have a ripple effect to other intermediaries in the pharmaceutical market.

Because pharmaceutical companies can directly reach consumers, “they don’t have to rely on the traditional rebate and formulary engine, which had a lot of steps between pharmaceutical manufacturers and consumers.”

In a social media post, Cuban said the efforts to bypass drug-pricing middlemen is a “big step forward,” but he said more reforms are needed to lower drug prices and overall health costs.

While those other reforms aren’t imminent, Harvard’s Rome said the TrumpRx site gives consumers one of many options when searching for lower drug prices. He cited as Cost Plus Drugs, GoodRx and retailers such as Costco, Walmart and Amazon as places consumers can shop and compare prices.

“What’s challenging is that it’s not like there’s one place that always has the lowest price,” Rome said.

Reach the reporter at alltuck@usatoday.com.

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