Trump threatens tariffs on medicines within weeks

Under the US-UK deal, ministers had pledged to make the UK more welcoming to US pharmaceutical companies, saying they would “endeavour to improve the overall environment for pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK”.

However, drugmakers warned that the UK was failing to deliver on that promise. They said the Government’s long-awaited life sciences strategy – which was published on Wednesday – fell short on making Britain a better place to operate.

The Government announced ambitions to reduce delays for clinical trials and said such plans would help make the UK the third-most important life sciences economy behind only the US and China by 2035.

However, drug chiefs criticised the plans amid an ongoing row over NHS drugs charges. The Government has so far failed to reach an agreement with industry over how much the NHS is able to claw back in rebates on drugs.

Johan Kahlström, managing director for healthcare company Novartis UK & Ireland, said he was “deeply concerned and disappointed that, despite extensive engagement, the Government’s new life sciences sector plan fails to address core industry concerns around the UK’s investment environment”.

Richard Torbett, from The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: “The UK must address the core issue holding back the life sciences sector, the long-term disinvestment in innovative medicines that is increasingly preventing NHS patients from accessing medications that are available in other countries.

“Without change, the UK will continue the slow slide down international league tables for research, investment, and the availability of new medicines.”

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