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US pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb will sell its new schizophrenia treatment in the UK for $22,500 a year, the same price as its American version, at a time when governments on both sides of the Atlantic\u00a0are seeking to lower drug costs.<\/p>\n
The launch of\u00a0Cobenfy is the first time BMS has sold a drug at the same price in the UK and the US, and\u00a0is a rare corporate pricing announcement ahead of a UK regulatory filing. BMS said it is preparing to submit the drug for UK approval in the coming weeks and expects approval next year. <\/p>\n
It comes as global pharmaceutical companies are trying to fight off Trump\u2019s demands that they lower US drug prices. <\/p>\n
BMS was one of 17 companies that received a letter from the White House in July demanding \u201cbinding commitments<\/a>\u201d to match in the US the lowest drug prices offered in other developed nations. Companies have until September 29 to respond to Trump\u2019s demands. <\/p>\n At the same time drugmakers are trying to force the UK government back to the negotiating table in the hope of cutting taxes on medicine sales.<\/p>\n BMS\u2019s Cobenfy announcement aligns the company with Trump\u2019s push for drugmakers to sell their US products at the lowest price offered in other developed nations, as proposed by the president in a May executive order.<\/p>\n In an interview with the Financial Times, Adam Lenkowsky, chief commercialisation officer at BMS, said the company might halt Cobenfy\u2019s UK launch if it is not included in guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). <\/p>\n Nice calculates whether a drug is deemed good value for money and recommends if it should be prescribed by NHS doctors.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we need to, we are prepared to make the difficult decision to walk away if NICE cannot recognise the value of our medicine,\u201d Lenkowsky said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re asking the UK to step up in recognising the value of truly innovative therapies,\u201d he said, adding \u201cwe do agree with the Trump administration that in fact other countries need to pay their fair share for innovation\u201d.<\/p>\n Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder affecting about 1 in 100 people in the UK, BMS said. Cobenfy\u2019s price would apply to NHS patients as well as to those with private insurance. <\/p>\n In August, US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly increased the UK price for weight-loss drug Mounjaro<\/a> by up to 170 per cent, but this increase did not apply to the NHS.<\/p>\n The UK government and pharmaceutical sector have sparred for months over a clawback tax<\/a> for drug revenues. The tax rate is calculated each year based on how much NHS spending on drugs outpaces an agreed growth rate, and is designed to limit the cost of medicines for Britain\u2019s state-run health system. <\/p>\n The tax rate rose to almost 23 per cent this year, a rate Lenkowsky said \u201cis untenable\u201d.<\/p>\n Other drug companies have pressured the UK on pricing. Earlier this month, Merck<\/a> \u2014 known as MSD in Europe \u2014 scrapped a \u00a31bn research centre in London, accusing the UK of not being internationally competitive. <\/p>\n