The U.S. Medicare programme will cut prices on 15 of its most expensive medications, lowering projected net prescription costs by roughly 8.5 billion US dollars, Reuters reported.

The reductions, effective in 2027, include Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide—used for diabetes and weight management—priced at 274 US dollars per month, down from Medicare’s current net price of 428 US dollars. Across all 15 drugs, savings range from 38 percent to 85 percent based on undiscounted list prices.

The largest reductions hit AstraZeneca’s leukemia treatment Calquence, Boehringer Ingelheim’s lung therapy Ofev, and Pfizer’s breast cancer drug Ibrance, each seeing net prices fall by over 4,000 US dollars. Other affected medicines include GSK’s asthma and COPD inhaler Trelegy Ellipta and AbbVie’s irritable bowel drug Linzess.

The price negotiations were established under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which allows Medicare to negotiate directly with manufacturers—a process previously prohibited by law. Analysts note that while the savings outpace last year’s 22 percent reduction, U.S. prices remain higher than those in other high-income countries. Medicare, which covers more than 67 million Americans, plans the next round of negotiations—including 15 additional drugs—starting in February.