The US UK trade deal will cost the NHS billions, and only serve to increase pharma profits
From Medicine and Science from The BMJ by The BMJ
May 1, 2026 · 43 min · Episode 77
About this episode
The episode discusses the financial implications of the new US-UK trade deal on the NHS and pharmaceutical pricing.
The new trade deal struck between the UK and US came into force in April. The deal will double the amount that the NHS spends on new medicines, by the end of 2036 (from 0.6 - 0.6% of GDP). increase the threshold that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sets for drug approvals - which will allow more to be approved, but will also allow companies to charge more for their pharmaceuticals, include a change to the rebate the NHS receives, to ensure that the extra drug spend occurs. Cumulatively this will increase our drug spend by £56 billion in the next 10 years, which will have to come out of current healthcare spending - which experts are calling a catastrophe for the NHS. Joining Kamran Abbasi to discuss are Sally Gainsbury, a senior policy analyst Nuffield Trust and Karl Claxton, professor of economics at the University of York. We also hear from Francis Ruiz, policy analyst at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Reading list The UK government must publish a detailed impact assessment of the costs and benefits of the US-UK medicines partnership A budget apart: the case for ringfencing medicines in the UK
People in this episode
Host: Kamran Abbasi
Guests: Sally Gainsbury, Karl Claxton
Topics covered
- NHS funding
- pharmaceutical profits
- trade agreements
- healthcare policy
- drug approvals
Keywords
- NHS
- US UK trade deal
- pharmaceuticals
- drug spending
- healthcare costs
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Nuffield Trust, University of York, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Places: UK, US
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