Live-streamed video footage has captured the moment a pharmaceutical company boss collapsed behind US President Donald Trump during a White House announcement about a weight-loss drug.

The drama unfolded as the CEO of drug company Eli Lilly, CEO Dave Ricks, was speaking at a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday (US time).

He suddenly stopped talking and turned around as a man behind him crumpled to the ground. Ricks asked him: “Are you OK? Gordon, you OK?”.

Several of those assembled went to the man’s aid, lowering him to the ground. Trump stood up from behind his desk and watched on, while the media were quickly ushered from the office.

Although some reports later identified the unwell man as Gordon Finlay from drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the company said on social media that he wasn’t present at the event, adding: “We hope the gentleman who suffered a medical incident today is OK”.

Journalists in the room at the time said one of those who assisted the man was Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator for Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Service.

“During the Most Favoured Nations Oval Office Announcement, a representative with one of the companies fainted. The White House medical unit quickly jumped into action, and the gentleman is OK,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump looked on as officials went to the man’s aid. Photo: DWS News

When the press conference resumed later, Trump apologised for the interruption, saying “one of the representatives of one of the companies got a little light-headed and so they went down… he’s got doctor’s care, but he’s fine”.

The conference had been called to announce a deal between the Trump administration and the pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to give Americans more affordable access to popular weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Wegovy.

Known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, the drugs have soared in popularity in recent years. However, patient access has been a consistent problem because of their cost — about $US500 ($A770) a month for higher doses — and insurance coverage has been spotty.

More than 100 million American adults are obese, according to federal estimates.

Coverage of the drugs will expand to Medicare patients from next year, according to the administration, which said lower prices would also be phased in for patients without coverage.

Starting doses of new, pill versions of the treatments will also cost $149 a month if they are approved.

“[It] will save lives and improve the health of millions and millions of Americans,” Trump said during the Oval Office announcement, in which he referred to GLP-1s as a “fat drug”.

Thursday’s announcement is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to rein in soaring drug prices in its efforts to address cost-of-living concerns among Americans.

Pfizer and AstraZeneca recently agreed to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicaid after an executive order in May set a deadline for drugmakers to electively lower prices or face new limits on what the government will pay.

The obesity drugs work by targeting hormones in the gut and brain that affect appetite and feelings of fullness. In clinical trials, they helped people shed 15 per cent to 22 per cent of their body weight.

“Trump is the friend of the forgotten American,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy jr said at Thursday’s announcement.

“Obesity is a disease of poverty. And overwhelmingly, these drugs have only been available for people who have wealth.”

Obesity rates actually are slightly higher for middle-income Americans than they are for those with the lowest and highest incomes, according to 2017-2020 data collected by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The drug-pricing announcement came days after Democrats swept elections in races across the country. Economic worries were the dominant concern for those casting their ballots, according to findings from the AP voter poll.

–with AP