STAT+: U.K. is urged to probe drugmakers for conspiring to scrap or halt investments amid pricing disputes
\n \t
\n
<\/BR>
\n
\n \t
\n
<\/BR><\/p>\n
The U.K.\u2019s antitrust regulator has been asked by patient advocacy groups to investigate several large drugmakers and their U.K. lobbying organization for \u201csuspected\u201d and \u201ccoordinated\u201d efforts to drive up the prices of medicines.<\/p>\n
The backdrop to the complaint has been an ongoing row between the pharmaceutical industry and the U.K. government over mandatory rebates that drug companies are required to pay in order to cap the cost of brand-name medicines for the National Health Service. In the 2023-2024 financial year, NHS spent $18.6 billion on such treatments.<\/p>\n
But earlier this year, the government proposed boosting rebates<\/a> from 10% to 23%, prompting industry criticism that the U.K. is no longer a desirable destination for further investment. In recent weeks, several large drug companies \u2014 AstraZeneca, Merck, and Eli Lilly \u2014 responded by halting or scrapping expansion plans for different research or manufacturing facilities worth a combined $2.6 billion.<\/p>\n Continue to STAT+ to read the full story\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n