The global pharmaceutical industry has found itself at the heart of geopolitical and trade tensions. The Trump administration has pushed policies to promote the sovereignty of US drugmakers, threatening tariffs on manufacturers or countries, and vowing to reduce prescription drug prices for Americans.
But it's an approach that could lead to "potential catastrophe", according to Karl Claxton, Professor of Economics at the University of York. "Instead of the US getting to grips with the fact that the healthcare system encourages and incentivises very high-cost medicine, instead of that, they've done a deal (...) I don't think it's going to fix the problem in the US. So I don't think US citizens will be huge beneficiaries. The rest of the world, particularly the high and middle-income countries are going to suffer unless we resist this pressure. And I think the pharmaceutical sector is going to suffer too."
Claxton is sharply critical of a deal struck between the US and UK governments on drug prices. "This deal effectively doubles how much we are going to pay for all new drugs (...) Within three years, the additional cost of this deal will exceed the entire value of all [British] pharmaceutical and medical device exports to the US. So this is a really, really bad deal."
He says fixing international pricing of pharmaceuticals should be a top health priority for all governments. "The impact of paying unsustainable prices for the new medicines is that all the other parts of the healthcare system that deliver really important benefits across the board end up having to accommodate that."
Also in the show, France says it will be the first EU country to reimburse some obese patients for weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro. Claxton believes the fast-growing sector offers potential health benefits and savings, but the long-term benefits have yet to be proven, and must be equally distributed. "These are potentially very valuable drugs (...) let's also make sure that those that really need it, that can benefit them and can reduce costs for our healthcare systems to benefit others, that they get access. In other words, let's not allow these drugs to be rationed according to who can afford to pay."
