Maryland Tech Council Statement on Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing Proposal

Rockville, MD (May 13, 2025) – Maryland Tech Council CEO Kelly Schulz issued the following statement regarding a federal proposal to utilize “most-favored nation” pricing for prescription drugs. Most-favored nation drug pricing requires the U.S. to pay at the same rate as paid by other countries with similar size and wealth.

“The Maryland Tech Council believes we can make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible, and there are common-sense ways to achieve this goal. However, most-favored nation pricing will not benefit America’s patients or its life sciences industry. Importing price controls from other countries will hurt access to medicines for the most vulnerable Marylanders and harm the development of cures by Maryland’s life sciences industry.

“Most favored nation pricing would make it harder for Marylanders to get the medicines they need. Countries like Canada and Germany use similar pricing systems, and while the prices might be lower, the trade-off is fewer treatment options. For example, Canadians have access to only about 11% of new cancer drugs, while in the U.S., that number is closer to 90%. When someone we love is facing a serious illness, we want every possible option available. If this pricing policy moves forward, it could force manufacturers to stop offering medicines in the program, creating these access issues. I don’t think any Marylander wants to risk this outcome.

“Many of our state’s life sciences companies—especially small and mid-sized ones—are advancing life-saving research while navigating a difficult economic and policy climate. They rely on continued investment to drive groundbreaking research that leads to new treatments and cures. But policies like most-favored-nation pricing, combined with tariffs, the so-called pill penalty, and strict price caps, make a difficult environment for innovation even more challenging.

“We can improve patient affordability without harming our life sciences workforce, or patient access, by considering all factors contributing to out-of-pocket costs. We encourage federal policymakers to pursue better ways to make prescription drugs more affordable such as requiring that middlemen share their drug rebate savings with patients.”

To learn more about the drug pricing chain, please visit the Prescription Drug Affordability Stakeholder Council website to listen to a presentation given to the council by Benjamin Link, PharmD, of 3 Axis Advisors, an expert in the field.