The new NICE threshold will be £25,000 to £35,000 per quality adjusted life year gained over and above current treatments.
The U.K. government said the two tweaks together will raise long-term NHS drugs spending by about 25 percent, but exact details haven’t yet been set out. No. 10 said funding will come from allocations already made at the spending review — indicating the Department of Health and Social Care could be saddled with the costs — but “frontline” services will be protected.
In exchange, the administration will grant an exemption for U.K.-made pharmaceuticals, ingredients and medical technology from U.S. tariffs for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.
U.K. Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said: “This deal guarantees that UK pharmaceutical exports – worth at least £5 billion a year – will enter the US tariff free, protecting jobs, boosting investment and paving the way for the UK to become a global hub for life sciences.
“We will continue to build on the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal, and the record-breaking investments we secured during the US State Visit, to create jobs and raise living standards as part of our Plan for Change.”
The breakthrough comes after months of back-and-forth between both sides, with the sector not covered in the Economic Prosperity Deal and Washington demanding a “preferential environment” to lift the threat of steep import duties. The administration had threatened to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on drugs.