The head of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has said the UK is “probably the worst country in Europe” for drug prices. Speaking to the Financial Times, Dave Ricks warned Britain would miss out on new drugs and investment if it did not raise prices and rethink the current rebate scheme.
How are prices set?
Why is this bad?
This year the rebate for newer branded drugs rose to almost 23% after NHS spending on the medicines grew much more than expected. Ricks said this “clawback scheme” effectively “charges us for our own success” and should be scrapped.
The result has been a pause to almost £2 billion in planned investments in the UK, with patients potentially missing out on new drugs, pharmaceuticals warn. In a possible sign of things to come, last month Eli Lilly raised the UK price of weight-loss drug Mounjaro by 170% for those who buy it privately.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Keir Starmer told the pharmaceutical industry in May that the UK would pay more for medicines in the future, following a commitment to “improve the overall environment for pharmaceutical companies” as part of a UK–US trade deal. However, negotiations over VPAG remain at an impasse.
-
‘Are we just going to stand in passive witness to the degradation of our democracy?’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Do Republicans have a health care plan?Today's Big Question The shutdown hinges on the answer
-
The new age of book banningThe Explainer How America’s culture wars collided with parents and legislators who want to keep their kids away from ‘dangerous’ ideas
-
How the care industry came to rely on migrant workersThe Explainer Government crackdown on recruiting workers abroad risks deepening care sector crisis, industry leaders warn
-
Five years on: How Covid changed everythingFeature We seem to have collectively forgotten Covid’s horrors, but they have completely reshaped politics
-
Cameroon bans reports on health of missing President BiyaUnder the Radar Biya, 91, hasn't been seen in public in weeks, fuelling widespread speculation that he might be dead
-
Infected blood scandal: will justice be served?Today's Big Question Government apologises for 'decades-long moral failure' and promises £10bn compensation but true accountability may take far longer
-
OTC birth control arrives amid the battle over reproductive rightsTalking Points Opill will cost $19.99 a month. Democrats are pushing to make it cheaper.
