On Tuesday morning, seven biopharma leaders joined U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House to discuss manufacturing, FDA regulations, taxes and the need to curb what Trump called “astronomical” drug prices.

The president’s speech and guest introductions were broadcast by media outlets, including Live Satellite News.

In attendance were CEOs from Celgene Corporation, Eli Lilly, Merck, Novartis and Amgen, along with Johnson and Johnson’s worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals, Joaquin Duato. Stephen Ubl, head of the industry lobbying group PhRMA, also had a seat at the table.

In their presence, Trump’s opening address was far more considered than previous speeches on pharma, which produced the now famous accusation that drug companies are “getting away with murder.”

“U.S. drug companies have produced extraordinary results for our country,” the president said at the beginning of his 6.5-minute address. “But the pricing has been astronomical.”

Trump reiterated his belief that the cost of drugs today are unsustainable for Medicare and Medicaid. The blame, however, was as much on regulations and international trade as it was on U.S. biopharma companies.

“We’re going to be ending global freeloading,” Trump stated. “Foreign price controls reduce the resources of American drug companies to finance drug and R&D innovation. I think you people know that very well. It’s very unfair to this country.”

A large section of Trump’s address was dedicated to changes the new administration aims to make at U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He also hinted at a replacement for the top job at the agency, following Robert Califf’s resignation on January 20.

“We’re going to streamline the FDA,” Trump said. “We have a fantastic person that I think I’ll be naming very soon.”

The president made it clear that a major overhaul is in the works. He touched on compassionate use, expressing dismay that terminally ill patients are currently being denied drugs if they are not FDA-approved.

The FDA does, in fact, have an “expanded access” program that addresses this issue, though the American Cancer Society notes that patients often struggle to access the drugs from a logistical standpoint.

Either way, Trump wants to drastically shorten the biopharma path-to-market.

Regulations that restrict companies from manufacturing in the United States will also be reviewed. Trump believes this can be achieved without lowering standards for safety.

“We’re going to be cutting regulations at a level that nobody has ever seen before,” the president said. “And we’re going to have tremendous protection for the people. Maybe more protection for the people. But instead of being 9,000 pages, it can be 100 pages.”

By decreasing taxes and regulations, Trump hopes to increase the rate of new approvals and market competition. The president said he wants to encourage bidding wars “big time” and will knock down any legislation that limits young companies from reaching the market and adding more therapeutic options.

Towards the end of his address, he conjured up the oft-cited figure that drug development takes on average $2.5 billion and 15 years to gain an approval. The study in question, performed by the Tufts Center for Drug Development with backing from industry groups, has been widely criticized as hyperbolic. But it seems Trump has significantly softened his tone and is now cutting Big Pharma some slack.

The markets certainly interpreted the meeting as a positive sign. The Nasdaq Biotech Index was up 1.1 percent this morning and the S&P 500 health care index increased 0.7 percent. Of the six drug companies in attendance, five were trading over 1 percent higher.

The president closed the meeting introductions without taking questions from the press.