Cost of UK's drug price with US will come out of NHS budget

"The cost of the government's drug pricing deal with the Trump administration will come out of the NHS budget instead of the Treasury's and could eventually reach 9bn a year, campaigners fear. Patrick Vallance, the science minister, has confirmed that the costs initially an extra 1bn over three years will be borne by the Department of Health and Social Care, which funds the NHS in England, and not the Treasury."

"His admission, in a letter to the Commons science, innovation and technology committee, is the first time the government has specified which Whitehall department would foot the bill. It comes amid growing concern among Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Scottish National party MPs that ministers have been evasive about the costs involved and risk that the NHS may have to cut services in order to pay the 25% higher prices for new drugs that ministers agreed to."

"The 1bn is the estimated extra cost for the first three years of the 10-year deal the government announced on 1 December. The extra spending needed by 2035, when the deal ends, could be as much as 9bn each year, campaigners have said. The Lib Dems have criticised the agreement as a Trump shakedown of the NHS and just a desperate ploy to placate Trump by the prime minister, Keir Starmer."

"The deal applies only to newly developed medicines and not to established generic drugs, which make up most of the NHS's 20bn annual spending on pharmaceuticals. In his letter to the committee, Vallance said the DHSC, NHS England and the National Institute for Care and Health Excellence had undertaken a joint analysis of the deal's costs. Overall, the combined analysis is that the deal commitments will cost about 1bn in England over the remaining three years of the spending review."

Government drug pricing deal with the Trump administration will be paid from the NHS budget rather than the Treasury. Science minister Patrick Vallance confirmed that an initial extra 1bn over three years will be borne by the Department of Health and Social Care. Joint analysis by DHSC, NHS England and NICE estimates deal commitments will cost about 1bn in England over the remaining three years of the spending review, to March 2029. Campaigners warn extra spending could rise to 9bn a year by 2035. The deal covers newly developed medicines only and may force NHS service cuts to cover 25% higher drug prices.

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