Pharmaceutical Executive Daily: Nine Companies Strike Deals for MFN Pricing

Welcome to Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, your quick briefing on the top news shaping the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

In today's Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, the Trump administration adds nine drugmakers to its Most Favored Nation pricing program alongside $19.6 billion in new U.S. manufacturing commitments, GSK pushes its dual-antigen mRNA flu vaccine FLUm3HA.b-3NA into a first-of-its-kind Phase III trial, and Simcere Zaiming licenses its tri-specific antibody Sim0660 to Roche in a deal worth up to $1.53 billion.

The Trump administration adds nine midsize drugmakers, including Teva Pharmaceuticals, CSL, and UCB, to its Most Favored Nation pricing program, requiring the companies to price their medications at the lowest rate offered in other developed nations across all U.S. Medicaid programs. The nine collectively commited to investing at least $19.6 billion in U.S. manufacturing and contributing active pharmaceutical ingredients, including UCB's stockpile of the anticonvulsant levetiracetam, to a new Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve. The deals bring the MFN program to 26 manufacturers covering roughly 89% of the branded drug market, completing agreements with all 17 companies the administration originally targeted in July 2025.

GSK advances its dual-antigen mRNA seasonal influenza vaccine into a Phase III efficacy trial beginning in September, the first Phase III program for an mRNA flu vaccine targeting both hemagglutinin and neuraminidase antigens. The move follows Phase II data from the 971-participant Flu-028 trial, which showed the candidate producing robust immune responses across younger and older adults and outperforming standard- and high-dose inactivated comparators. GSK receives FDA Fast Track designation for the vaccine in July, underscoring the urgency around closing protection gaps in current flu shots.

Finally, Simcere Zaiming licenses its tri-specific antibody Sim0660 to Roche in a deal worth $75 million upfront and up to $1.53 billion in total payments, plus tiered double-digit royalties. Sim0660 targets CD79a, CD19, and CD3 simultaneously, pairing a CD3-engaging arm with two B-cell antigen binding domains to drive T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity against B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases while limiting cytokine release. The agreement is Simcere's sixth major out-licensing deal, pushing the aggregate potential value of those transactions past $6.1 billion.

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