The chief executive of Eli Lilly has labelled the United Kingdom as 'probably the worst country in Europe' for drug pricing, intensifying a dispute between pharmaceutical companies and the government. Dave Ricks warned that unless the UK raises prices and scraps its rebate scheme, it risks missing out on new medicines and investment.
Ricks's comments follow the cancellation or pause of almost £2 billion in planned UK investments by big pharma this year, including Eli Lilly's own shelved London lab. The Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) requires companies to pay a rebate that rose to nearly a quarter this year, which Ricks described as 'charging us for our own success'.
Earlier this month, US drugmaker MSD scrapped a £1 billion London research centre, and AstraZeneca halted a £200 million expansion in Cambridge. Bristol Myers Squibb has threatened not to sell a new schizophrenia drug in the UK. In total, 13 major projects or company decisions have damaged the UK's pharma sector since 2022.
Ricks said the UK is 'not an attractive environment' for investment. Last month, Eli Lilly raised the UK price of weight-loss drug Mounjaro by up to 170% for private buyers, after noting people travelling from Paris to purchase it cheaply. Meanwhile, the company is investing $6.5 billion in a new manufacturing facility in Houston.
The criticism comes amid pressure from US President Donald Trump for pharmaceutical companies to offer American patients prices comparable to those in other countries. Trump recently highlighted the price difference for 'the fat drug' costing over $1,000 in the US versus $88 in London, accusing the US of subsidising the rest of the world.
