Australian blood products and vaccine giant CSL doesn't expect to be impacted by new US pharmaceutical tariffs, and neither does two smaller ASX-listed drug companies.
CSL said on Tuesday it was still working through details of US President Donald Trump's tariff proclamation, but its initial view was most of its US product sales wouldn't be subject to tariffs.
Mr Trump declared on Thursday that most pharmaceuticals imports to the US would be taxed at a 100 per cent rate, unless their manufacturer had approved plans to move production to the US or if they were made in a country with a trade deal with the US.
Despite its 2005 free-trade agreement with America, Australia did not receive a carve-out, unlike other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which forces pharmaceutical manufacturers to negotiate prices directly with the Australian government, has long been in the sights of America's drug giants.
Health Minister Mark Butler said Australia would not back down on the scheme.
"We keep sending this clearest of possible messages to the US because we know they get the big drug companies in their ear trying to unpick the PBS here in Australia and equivalent schemes in other countries around the world," he told Seven's Sunrise on Friday.
The proclamation did exempt plasma-derived therapies such as those made by CSL, which are used to treat patients with rare bleeding disorders or immunodeficiency diseases.
"This is consistent with the longstanding approach of special policy accommodations to ensure patient access to these life-saving therapies," CSL said.
CSL also noted its US plasma therapies were derived entirely from US sourced plasma, and it had recently announced plans to expand its plasma therapy manufacturing capabilities in Illinois.
It also sells a flu vaccine, Fluad, in the US, but that was made in the United Kingdom, CSL said.
Adelaide-based Mayne Pharma, which makes skin care and women's health products, also said it doesn't expect a material impact from the tariffs.
The products made for US export at its Adelaide manufacturing facility were mostly generics not targeted by Trump's tariffs, Mayne said.
Other of its branded dermatological products are largely manufactured in the US.
Melbourne-based Telix Pharmaceuticals has also said it doesn't expect to be impacted.
The company makes a line of what are known as radiopharmaceuticals - products containing small amounts of radioactive substances, for the use in diagnosing and treating disease.
Telix's lead products are two imaging agents that attach to prostate cancer lesions, making them easier to detect on PET scans.
Telix says those products are manufactured by third parties in the United States.
"Due to the 'just-in-time' nature of radiopharmaceutical products, such products are generally manufactured or radiolabelled in close proximity to the point-of-care," Telix said in 2025.
That will continue to be the case for the company's new products.
