U.K. patient advocates urge antitrust regulator to probe drugmakers

The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has been asked by patient advocacy groups to investigate several large drugmakers and their U.K. lobbying organization for “suspected” and “coordinated” efforts to drive up the prices of medicines.

The backdrop to the complaint has been an ongoing row between the pharmaceutical industry and the U.K. government over mandatory rebates that drug companies are required to pay in order to cap the cost of brand-name medicines for the National Health Service. In the 2023-2024 financial year, NHS spent $18.6 billion on such treatments.

But earlier this year, the government proposed boosting rebates from 10% to 23%, prompting industry criticism that the U.K. is no longer a desirable destination for further investment. In recent weeks, several large drug companies — AstraZeneca, Merck, and Eli Lilly — responded by halting or scrapping expansion plans for different research or manufacturing facilities worth a combined $2.6 billion.