Pharma bosses and ministers to shape future drug pricing regime

Some of the planetary pharmaceutical industry's apical executives are to signifier a caller sheet with the authorities aimed astatine devising a caller pricing authorities for cardinal medicines.

Sky News understands that Whitehall officials and ministers volition invitation bosses from companies including AstraZeneca and GSK to articulation the caller moving radical successful the coming weeks.

The determination follows this week's announcement of a caller drug-pricing woody betwixt the UK and US which volition spot the NHS wage 25% much for branded medicines, arsenic good arsenic reducing the 'clawback tax' that cause companies wage to the NHS.

The statement means that the UK volition debar tariffs connected medicines exports to the US for astatine slightest 3 years, an result the authorities was determined to secure.

Industry sources said the caller moving radical was expected to analyse a scope of options for replacing the existing Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAG) erstwhile it expires successful astir 3 years' time.

These options are apt to see an outcomes-based exemplary which would entail variations successful cause pricing, arsenic good arsenic exploring a nexus betwixt pricing and the grade of pharmaceuticals companies' cause improvement enactment which takes spot successful the UK.

The VPAG strategy has drawn the ire of pharmaceuticals groups, which person been informing that they could hold oregon cancel billions of pounds of concern successful Britain arsenic a effect of its continued adoption.

Liz Kendall, the subject and exertion secretary, described this week's announcement arsenic a "vital woody [that] volition guarantee UK patients get the cutting-edge medicines they request sooner, and our world-leading UK firms support processing the treatments that tin alteration lives".

"It volition besides alteration and incentivise beingness sciences companies to proceed to put and innovate close present successful the UK," she added.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology declined to remark connected the caller moving group.