President Donald Trump, who once said drug companies are "getting away with murder," struck a decidedly more friendly tone Tuesday after meeting with representatives from Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America—even going so far as hinting he would not pursue a campaign promise to require Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met with PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl and six members of the association's board of directors at the White House to talk drug policy. During his campaign, the president had criticized the pharmaceutical industry for rising drug prices. But after the meeting he was largely repeating industry talking points, calling for streamlining the regulatory process to allow new drugs to more quickly hit the market.

Trump also said he would oppose "price-fixing" by Medicare—a seeming reversal from his earlier comments, although he did not clarify what he meant. Still, many political observers took the president's remarks as a sign he would likely abandon his campaign pledge.

In a statement, Ubl called the meeting "productive" and said his organization raised concerns about the affordability and accessibility of prescription medications.

"The current system needs to evolve to enable the private sector to lead the move to a value-driven health care system," Ubl said. "To do this, we need to reform existing laws and regulations that are currently preventing private companies from negotiating better deals and paying for medicines based on the value they provide to patients and our health care system."

PhRMA recently launched a multi-million dollar, nationwide campaign to fix the public image of the pharmaceutical industry after at least two high-profile scandals concerning soaring drug prices. Democrats have called for taking measures to rein in price hikes, but Republicans have largely stressed deregulation as the answer. http://onphr.ma/2jW64Iw

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