UK eyes higher NHS drug prices amid U.S. pharma pressure

Mace | 27th September 2025 | Uncategorised, Washington
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The UK government is reportedly prepared to allow higher NHS medicine prices to defuse U.S. threats of 100 percent tariffs on branded drugs. The shift comes as pharmaceutical firms balk at rebate regimes and paused investment. Ministers are in talks with Washington and mulling reforms to cost‑effectiveness metrics.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is reportedly poised to accept higher NHS drug prices as part of a broader effort to head off pressure from U.S. pharmaceutical policy demands. The move comes amid threats by President Trump of punitive tariffs on branded medicines unless companies lower U.S. prices or shift production to American soil. Late this week sources said the UK would allow price increases for certain medications to offset revenue losses that drugmakers might face under Trump’s pricing demands. That shift signals a departure from long‑standing UK practice of aggressively negotiating down drug costs for the NHS. The background to the move is a sweeping U.S. tariff threat. Starting October 1, the U.S. intends to impose 100 percent tariffs on branded pharmaceutical imports from firms that have not established manufacturing in the U.S. Britain is currently not shielded by existing trade agreements that cap tariffs on EU exporters because its pharma tariff rules remain unres...

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