INTERNATIONAL SCORECARD ON FOREIGN FREELOADING:

MFP Scorecard

How foreign countries are responding to President Trump’s calls to end foreign freeloading

  • Europe's pricing policies are discouraging pharmaceutical investment and patients are feeling the effects.1

  • For every 10% cut in drug prices, capital investment falls 14%. Today, Europe attracts just 7% of global biotech capital, versus 65% in the US, and clinical trials have dropped nearly 50% over the past decade.2

  • Despite representing a third of high-income GDP, the EU accounts for just 25.6% of spending on new medicines—compared to 56.7% for the US.3

  • The consequence is stark: European and Japanese patients have far less access to the breakthrough treatments readily available in the US.

CountryGDP spend per capita on innovative medicinesAccess to medicinesResponded to Trump’s call
United States 0.78%4 92%5
United Kingdom 0.28%4 58%6
France 0.29%4 52%7
Germany 0.36%4 61%8
Japan 0.40%4 35%9

American patients shouldn’t pay more so the world can pay less.

1. The Well News, 2024 2. ISPOR Europe, 2025. 3. ISPOR Europe 2025 4. EY High-Income Country Spending on Innovative Medicines Research Brief, 2025 5. National Institutes of Health, 2022 6. UK Parliament Commons Library, 2024 7. IQVIA, The Patients Wait Indicator 2025 8. National Institutes of Health, 2022 9. IQVIA, The Patients Wait Indicator 2025.