FILE PHOTO: The Pfizer logo is seen in this illustration taken August 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump will announce on Tuesday that Pfizer plans to lower prices on several of its medications in the United States, a White House official said.

The White House is also planning to unveil a direct-to-consumer website for Americans to buy drugs, called TrumpRx, the official added. Pfizer will launch sales of some of its drugs directly to consumers through that website.

The New York-based drugmaker will also announce a $70 billion push on research and development and domestic manufacturing, the official said.

Trump sent letters to 17 leading drug companies in July telling them to slash drug prices to match those paid overseas - a policy the president has called most favored nation pricing. He asked them to respond with binding commitments by September 29.

Pfizer would be the first company to announce a deal. A company spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

The U.S. has been engaged in one-on-one talks with the companies, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a cabinet meeting last month, adding that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was using the threat of tariffs on the industry for additional leverage.

Trump signed a sweeping executive order in May demanding drugmakers cut U.S. medicine prices to match those abroad, saying that if companies did not comply, the government could use rulemaking to bring prices down or pursue other measures, such as importing cheaper medicines from overseas.

U.S. patients pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations. The country also invests heavily in pharmaceutical research and development. Drugmakers have said drastic price cuts would stifle innovation.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington; Writing by Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Bill Berkrot)