Westchester County leaders are rejecting claims made by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that it is Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” adopted a year ago that is responsible for Regeneron’s expansion in Westchester County and elsewhere. Bessent made his remarks recent during an interview on the cable network CNBC. A few days after Bessent’s interview, Regeneron’s co-founders and leaders Leonard Schleifer and George Yancopoulos were with President Trump at an April 23 Oval Office meeting that provided information on an agreement between Regeneron and the administration.
County leaders say that it is the decades-long local and state partnership with Regeneron and not relatively recent legislation signed into law by Donald Trump that has driven Regeneron’s growth in Westchester County.
Bessent said on CNBC that during a visit to Regeneron in Westchester the company’s management told him that a lot of their expansion in Westchester and North Carolina was due to tax benefits in the “Big Beautiful Bill” that allow rapid tax write-off of investments in plant, equipment and research and development.
“Regeneron’s success in Westchester County didn’t happen overnight. Bessent’s attempt to justify the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ adopted only one year ago, by linking it to Regeneron’s success is absurdly misleading and disingenuous,” said Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins. “It is the product of years of deliberate strategic investment, strong public-private partnerships, and a commitment to fostering innovation right here in our communities. We are proud of the significant role Westchester County has played in providing the support and building an environment where a leader in biotechnology can grow and thrive.”
Deputy County Executive and Chair of the county’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Joan McDonald said, “The Westchester County IDA was pleased to provide sales tax, mortgage recording tax and PILOT benefits to Regeneron as it continued its expansion in Westchester County. The partnership between Regeneron and Westchester County demonstrates, once again, the county’s commitment to the bioscience community.”
The county officials pointed out that since 2021, the county has partnered with Regeneron on two major expansion projects totaling nearly $2 billion in investment.
“Regeneron’s story is not told in political talking points,” Jenkins said. “It’s about a county that invested in innovation, supported job creation, and built a foundation for sustainable economic success.”
“Westchester County works closely with Regeneron to support their continued growth in Westchester County through talent partnerships and educational programs,” said Emily Saltzman, the county’s director of operations. “They have remained and grown in Westchester County because of our educated and experienced workforce and high quality of life.”
On April 23, Regeneron’s co-founders and current leaders Leonard Schleifer and George Yancopoulos joined President Trump and members of his administration in the Oval Office at the White House to announce a new agreement through which Regeneron has responded to requests that were in a letter Trump had sent to Regeneron.
Under the agreement, Regeneron will lower drug prices and also utilize the drug sale platform TrumpRX.gov to allow eligible patients to directly purchase Praluent, Regeneron’s PCSK9 inhibitor medicine, at the most-favored nation price. Additionally, Regeneron will offer its gene therapy Otarmeni for free in the U.S. to treat people with severe to profound and profound hearing loss.
“For too long, American patients and taxpayers have shouldered a disproportionate share of the cost of biotechnology innovation — effectively subsidizing lower drug prices for other high-income nations that have not been paying their fair share,” said Schleifer. “We hope that today’s agreement, coupled with effective trade policy, will lead to closer equilibration of prices around the globe while preserving innovation and lowering prices for Americans.”
Yancopoulos said, “Our decision to provide Otarmeni for free in the United States serves to highlight our belief that the biopharmaceutical industry can be a genuine force for good in the world.”
Under the agreement with the Trump administration, Regeneron will not be subject to future pricing mandates and will receive tariff relief for three years through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce under which Regeneron has committed to certain activities and investments to support research and development and manufacturing in the U.S. Additional terms of the agreement with the Trump administration remain confidential.
