Patrick Vallance<\/a>, has warned that drug price increases \u201care going to be a necessary part\u201d of solving the exodus of pharmaceutical companies from the UK. <\/p>\nAs prices rise, it is unclear whether the Treasury will increase the health budget to pay for more expensive medicines or whether the NHS will be forced to reallocate from its already-tight budget. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The NHS has already been spending an increasing amount on medicines, with prescribing costs at \u00a319.9bn last year, up 16 per cent from 2021\/2. <\/p>\n
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has admitted the issue is a \u201clive conversation\u201d, suggesting that the government may bow to pressure on high prices. <\/p>\n
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The NHS may have to increase spending on medicines as pharmaceutical companies raise prices. (PA Wire)<\/p>\n
If the NHS is unable to pay higher prices or negotiate reasonable deals with pharmaceutical companies, the UK could be at risk of medicine shortages and supply chain issues, particularly as manufacturing moves further afield. That could be \u201cdevastating\u201d for patients, Henry Gregg, head of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), told The Independent.<\/p>\n
“It remains to be seen what impact this could have on patients and pharmacies, who are at the sharp end of a very complicated and potentially vulnerable supply chain, but we need reassurance that steps are being made to protect them,” he said.<\/p>\n
US demands higher prices for medicine to end \u2018global freeloading\u2019<\/p>\n
Multinational drug companies such as Merck have faced direct calls to boost prices in the UK and abroad from President Trump. <\/p>\n
In May, Mr Trump signed an executive order calling for a \u201cmost favoured nation\u201d pricing policy, which pushes pharmaceutical companies to raise the cost of medicines in other countries in order to cut them for US buyers.<\/p>\n
This pressure is already spurring clear consequences in the UK.<\/p>\n
Just this week, pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) said it would charge the UK at US rates for the schizophrenia drug Cobenfy – to the tune of approximately \u00a316,800 a year.<\/p>\n
It is the first time BMS has done so, with UK prices usually around half of US rates.<\/p>\n
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Mounjaro manufacturer Eli Lilly recently announced a price hike, as its chief executive said the UK was \u201cthe worst country in Europe\u201d for drug prices. (PA Wire)<\/p>\n
“We agree with the Trump administration that other countries need to pay their fair share,” said Adam Lenkowsky, BMS chief commercialisation officer.<\/p>\n
And weight loss jab producer Eli Lilly has said it would increase the UK price of Mounjaro by as much as 170 per cent, after Mr Trump called out the UK for having low prices on \u201cfat jabs\u201d. <\/p>\n
And a representative for Eli Lilly said it had paused plans for its lab in London, as the company was \u201cawaiting more clarity around the UK life sciences environment\u201d.<\/p>\n
In both cases, though, the companies have yet to announce equivalent price cuts in the US, suggesting that Trump\u2019s threats to pharmaceutical companies may just bring prices up worldwide. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The US has the highest drug prices in the world, with prices on branded medicine being 3.8 times higher on average than in the UK, according to a 2022 study. <\/p>\n
But Mr Trump appears to be more focused on increasing prices abroad to stop \u201cglobal freeloading\u201d than cutting prices at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it remains to be seen how much of the pharmaceutical sector would be affected, the proposed tariffs would undoubtedly increase costs for US healthcare,\u201d said Mark Samuels, head of the British Generic Manufacturers Association.<\/p>\n
In general, pharmaceutical companies are able to charge more in insurance-based health systems such as the US and France, while countries like the UK and Canada which have public health systems, demand lower prices from suppliers. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe NHS needs to deliver for patients and for taxpayers. As the largest single purchaser of medicines in Europe, this gives the NHS tremendous buying power,\u201d said Mr Samuels. <\/p>\n
Losing thousands of jobs in the economy <\/p>\n
In addition to the standoff over prices, there is the issue of research and manufacturing. <\/p>\n
The pharmaceutical industry contributes over \u00a317.6bn in gross value to the UK, with \u00a345bn through research and development, according to the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). <\/p>\n
\u201cThis pressure isn’t just about current prices; it\u2019s about the future of our healthcare. We are witnessing a clear pivot away from the UK,\u201d said Lord Scriven, adding that the country is at \u201crisk of being left behind\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTariffs will put further pressure on drug manufacturers to move away research and development of drugs from the UK, [which could have] a negative impact on pricing and access to new drugs for the NHS,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
President Trump has explicitly called for pharmaceutical companies to keep their industry within the US, a move which could deter businesses from manufacturing in the UK.<\/p>\n
Already, Merck has cancelled its \u00a31bn investment plans for a London research facility and scrapped existing projects, both of which had been in progress and seen sunk costs.<\/p>\n
And AstraZeneca, Britain\u2019s biggest company, which was at the forefront of Covid-19 vaccine development, recently paused plans for a \u00a3200m research facility in Cambridge, after announcing \u00a337bn in investment in the US for research and development. <\/p>\n
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AstraZeneca paused plans for \u00a3200 million investment in a Cambridge site last week (PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Combined, the cancelled or paused investments could put nearly 2,000 future and current jobs at risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot allow economic stupidity from Donald Trump to dismantle the foundations of our health service, which has for decades ensured that UK patients have access to affordable, life-saving medicines,\u201d Lord Scriven said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe health of patients and the integrity of the NHS itself depend on it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-162479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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