Drugmaker EMD Serono will reduce the cost of a common fertility drug thanks to an agreement reached with the Trump Administration, President Donald Trump announced Thursday, who also unveiled new federal guidelines that he said will encourage employers to offer fertility health coverage.
The new guidelines will allow companies to offer fertility benefits separate from major health insurance plans, just as they do with dental and vision plans, Trump said.
“We want to provide all couples with the possibility of having children, raising them and forming the family they have always dreamed of”Trump indicated.
The Oval Office announcement offers a first look at how Trump plans to follow up on his order from earlier this year aimed at reducing the cost of in vitro fertilization, a medical procedure that helps people facing infertility start their families. But he falls far short of his promise as a candidate to make IVF treatment free. It also marks the third agreement that the Administration has reached with pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices in recent weeks.
The EMD Serono Gonal-f is one of several medications frequently used by patients who undergo IVF treatments, which consist of using hormones to trigger ovulation, producing multiple eggs that are extracted from the ovaries to be fertilized or frozen. Medications can be expensive, often costing thousands of dollars for a single IVF cycle. Many patients trying to get pregnant through IVF undergo more than one cycle.
The White House and EMD Serono said this medication, along with other IVF drugs, will be available at a discount on TrumpRx, a government website where patients can purchase medications directly from manufacturers. The Trump Administration maintains that the new portal, which is expected to go live in 2026, will reduce pharmaceutical costs by allowing people to buy drugs without intermediaries.
Trump said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will also work with EMD Serono to accelerate the approval of another of its fertility drugs available in Europe, called Pergoveris.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that as a result of the changes: “There will be a lot of Trump babies. I think that’s probably a good thing.”
Thursday’s announcement comes after Trump issued an executive order in February pledging to make in vitro fertilization more affordable. During his campaign last year, Trump promised that if elected he would make IVF treatment free.
“Under the Trump Administration, your Government will pay – or your insurance company will be obligated to pay – all costs associated with in vitro fertilization treatment,” he said at an event held in Michigan. “Because we want more babies, to put it elegantly.”
That pledge came in the wake of mounting pressure after his Supreme Court nominees helped overturn abortion rights in Roe v. Wade, kicking off a push in GOP-led states to impose new restrictions, including some that have threatened access to IVF by seeking to define life as beginning at the moment of conception.
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When asked Thursday about conservatives who have religious objections to IVF and criticize his support for it, Trump stated that he was not aware of those views.
“I don’t know those opinions”Trump said. “I’m just looking to do something because I’m pro-life, and I think this is very pro-life.”
“You can’t be more pro-life than this,” he added.
Roger Shedlin, chief executive of fertility and family-building benefits company WIN, on Wednesday expressed enthusiasm for what he called “steps in the right direction.”
“Any initiative that addresses the cost of medications will have a significant positive impact on the total cost of the fertility cycle,” he said.
Corinn O’Brien, 39, of Birmingham, Alabama, stated that anything that reduces the costs of IVF would be “huge for families.”
O’Brien said she underwent three rounds of IVF and gave birth to a daughter in June. Each time, the medications They cost between 1,000 and 5,000 dollars.
He stated that covering the entire IVF cycle “would ultimately be a radical change for families,” but that helping with the cost of medications “is a step forward and is greatly appreciated.”
O’Brien added that it would be great if more companies covered fertility services because, for many, “this is their only opportunity to expand their family.”
