On December 19th, 2025, 14 pharmaceutical companies shook President Trump's hand and promised most favored nation pricing. The president called it the greatest victory for patient affordability in the history of American health care. Twelve days later, those same companies raised prices on 872 drugs. Then they launched 23 new drugs at an average price of $353,000 a year.

In Episode 8, Rob Burgess covers two stories that belong together. First: what actually happened to Trump's MFN deals — the price hikes, the new drug launch prices, and the $177 billion in combined profit that proves the "we need high prices to innovate" argument is a lie. Then: cancer drug pricing specifically, because 51% of American cancer patients go into debt paying for treatment, and the data says the prices have nothing to do with how well the drugs work.

In this episode:

• 872 drug price hikes in the first two weeks of January — from companies that had just signed MFN deals at the White House
• 23 new drugs launched by MFN deal signatories at an average price of $353,000 a year — one launched at $389,100 in the US, $37,900 in Japan
• $177 billion in combined profit, $97 billion back to shareholders, $34 billion in stock buybacks — from companies claiming they need high prices to survive
• Why the MFN deals failed: voluntary agreements without statutory enforcement are not agreements, they're handshakes
• 51% of American cancer patients go into debt paying for treatment — and peer-reviewed research finds no meaningful correlation between cancer drug prices and how well those drugs work
• Keytruda: $29.5 billion in revenue, dosing questions experts say could cut costs significantly, and a patent fortress extending to 2042
• Pharma increased cancer drug advertising by 43% while cutting R&D by 29% — in the same year
• The EPIC Act: pharma's current lobbying push to delay Medicare price negotiation on cancer drugs by four years

The bottom line: This is not a negotiating fight. You do not negotiate your way to victory with an industry that raises prices on 872 drugs twelve days after shaking the president's hand. You legislate. Codify MFN pricing. Pass the bill.

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