President Donald Trump has unveiled an agreement with Germany’s Merck KGaA to lower the cost of its fertility medicines in the United States in exchange for exemptions from threatened tariffs, part of his drive to make in vitro fertilisation (IVF) more affordable.
Under the deal, Merck will sell its full range of IVF drugs through Trump’s direct-to-consumer platform, TrumpRX, and expand manufacturing in the US.
The company’s leading therapy, Gonal-F, is currently several times more expensive in America than abroad.
Merck’s EMD Serono unit will receive a priority review voucher for its Pergoveris fertility drug, already approved in 74 countries. Officials said the move could cut more than $2,000 from the cost of a treatment cycle, which can exceed $15,000.
The White House also plans to let employers offer fertility coverage as a supplemental “excepted benefit,” broadening access to IVF amid renewed political debate over reproductive medicine in the US.