• Environment

    Pharma firms pile pressure on the UK as Trump’s drug pricing order looms

    AnyFans Posted on

    By Karen Gilchrist

    Copyright cnbc

    Pharma firms pile pressure on the UK as Trump's drug pricing order looms

    Major pharma firms have been given until Sept. 29 to present the Trump administration with “binding commitments” to lower their drug prices stateside to levels paid by other advanced nations.

    Trump has long lambasted European countries for not paying the same pricing for their drugs as the U.S. does and for failing to invest in innovation.

    The U.S. president is due to arrive in Britain Tuesday for a three-day state visit, coming just months after the U.K. and the U.S. brokered the Trump administration’s flagship trade deal. Though the agreement outlines “preferential treatment” for pharmaceuticals, it hinges on Britain improving the “overall environment” for the sector.

    The U.K. government flagged life sciences as one of its eight priority sectors when it announced its industrial strategy earlier this year. Nevertheless, the sector-specific plan has underwhelmed many in the industry, with Merck saying Wednesday that the U.K. had not made “meaningful progress towards addressing the lack of investment in the life science industry.”

    Meanwhile, long-running discussions over drug pricing between pharma companies and the British government fell apart last month without a resolution.

    Broader questions have arisen over the U.K.’s investment landscape. A report released Wednesday by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) showed Britain’s ranking for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharma sector had fallen from second in 2017 to seventh in 2023.

    “Without a more competitive environment for investment, we risk losing out to other countries making bold moves to attract internationally mobile investment,” ABPI CEO Richard Torbett said in a statement last week.

    Alex Altmann, partner at chartered accountants and business advisors Lubbock Fine, urged the U.K. government to follow the U.S.’ lead in doubling down on efforts to attract overseas investment. The Trump administration has urged global drug makers to bolster U.S. manufacturing, prompting a slew of multibillion-dollar investments over recent months, including from pharma giants Novartis, Sanofi and Roche.

    “The U.S. Government is visibly working very hard to win investment into their country. The UK must show some of the same drive,” he said in emailed comments.

    Fresh figures from the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) show the number of FDI projects in the U.K. fell to 1,375 in the 2024/25 tax year, down from 1,555 in 2023/24.

    Nevertheless, Investec’s Muchechetere noted the U.K. is still in a strong position to capitalize on its “world-class scientific base” and win over pharma investment, if it steps up its game in negotiations.

    “The U.K. is in a fantastic position to … further research and to win some of this work. They just have to play ball,” Muchechetere said.

    You Might Also Like