Britain is about to lock in a pharma deal with Washington that cuts US import tariffs on meds and forces the UK to spend more on NHS drugs. The agreement drops rebate rates for branded medicines and bumps up the cost-per-year threshold used to judge if treatments are worth it by about 25 percent from the current cap. London also promised to dedicate a bigger chunk of the NHS budget to pharmaceuticals, which drug companies have been screaming about for ages.
The whole thing went down after American pharma giants started rage-quitting UK investments over pricing disputes. AstraZeneca froze a massive Cambridge expansion, Eli Lilly walked back part of its London hub plans, and Merck ditched a billion-pound research center. Trump's people basically threatened tariffs to narrow the gap between cheap UK drug prices and expensive American ones, and the UK eventually caved after months of back-and-forth drama.
The whole thing went down after American pharma giants started rage-quitting UK investments over pricing disputes. AstraZeneca froze a massive Cambridge expansion, Eli Lilly walked back part of its London hub plans, and Merck ditched a billion-pound research center. Trump's people basically threatened tariffs to narrow the gap between cheap UK drug prices and expensive American ones, and the UK eventually caved after months of back-and-forth drama.
