UK trade secretary critiques pharma amid price talks
The U.K.’s Trade Secretary, Peter Kyle, remarked that pharmaceutical companies are proving to be “hard negotiators” amid intense discussions related to President Donald Trump’s deadline to impose 100 percent tariffs on U.S. pharmaceutical imports.
Asked about the impact of Trump’s threats and a spate of recent warnings about the U.K.’s investment climate from leading pharmaceutical companies, Kyle told the POLITICO Pub at Labour Party Conference “there is a lot of discussions and negotiations going on over pricing,” News.Az reports.
The U.K.-U.S. Economic Prosperity Deal signed in May left the door open to “preferential treatment” for the U.K. on U.S. pharmaceutical tariffs, but only if the U.K. improves conditions for American drug makers.
The prime minister’s business adviser, Varun Chandra, flew to Washington this week to discuss tariffs.
In parallel, the U.K. government is locked in talks with companies over NHS drug pricing, with Science Minister Patrick Vallance recently hinting the NHS will need to pay more if Britain wants to stay attractive for investment.
However, Kyle indicated he thinks the sector’s concerns have been overstated, saying: “The pharma companies are very good negotiators. They are hard negotiators, and they know how to use the media and the press to do it.”
“But we are tough negotiators too, and we are in the process of negotiating lots of different arrangements and agreements and investments into pharma.”
Kyle insisted the U.K. continues to “have one of the best life sciences communities in the world,” pointing to a recent £1 billion investment by German medicines giant BioNTech. The government is continuing to look for ways to make it easier to roll out innovative medicines across the U.K.’s health system, he said.
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