UK warned on losing science expertise

• Pharma sector says government must overhaul its drug pricing structure

Britain’s ambition to become a “science superpower” will fail unless the government reverses the country’s reputation as a poor place to invest, the head of the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical lobby group has warned.

“I’m very concerned about the sentiment towards the UK among global leadership right now,” Richard Torbett, CEO of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), said on Tuesday.

“I have CEOs talking to me all the time about how far away from the rest of the world the UK has drifted.”

Torbett was speaking less than a fortnight after chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt pledged £1.8bn to help “20,000 cutting-edge companies that day by day are turning Britain into a science superpower”, as part of a new research & development tax credit.

However, the ABPI boss said the government must overhaul its drug pricing structure or risk losing out on millions of pounds of investment.

“I don’t think the government stands a chance of meeting its targets on R&D unless the pharmaceutical industry turns its view of the UK round into being a good investment proposition,” Torbett said. “At the moment it’s just not.”

The industry is due to start talks with the government in April about a new drug pricing structure, with the current Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access —

VPAS — set to expire at the end of 2024. Under VPAS, spending on drugs by the National Health Service is capped, with companies made to refund the government if it ends up paying more than the agreed level on branded medicines.

Pharmaceutical giants AbbVie and Eli Lilly left the agreement in 2023, which the ABPI said was a warning that the UK could find it harder to access certain medicines. Torbett said more could follow if the government did not agree to a better framework from 2024.

“Companies will not want to send a signal that it is OK to sign up to something that is perceived to be punitive compared to other countries,” said Torbett.

A spokesperson for the department of health and social care said VPAS “ensures value for money for the UK taxpayer” and has “helped the NHS to deliver a record number of medicines to the public”.

Still, some people in the sector are also concerned that an unattractive pharma landscape could push companies to consider listing elsewhere.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ CEO said last week that the UK tech company would consider

I HAVE CEOS TALKING TO ME ALL THE TIME ABOUT HOW FAR AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD THE UK HAS DRIFTED

listing on a foreign exchange, amid growing scrutiny of London’s position as a global financial centre.

The headline terms of a new

pricing agreement are expected to be in place by the summer, Torbett said.

The discussions come as the UK is trying to play catch up in

other areas of the life sciences sector such as clinical trials, which have fallen more than 40% in number since 2017.