UK must reform drug pricing to become life sciences superpower, says GSK boss

GSK’s outgoing chief executive, Emma Walmsley, has said Britain will struggle to be a “life sciences superpower” unless it overhauls drug pricing. As ministers draw up proposals to increase the amount the NHS spends on new medicines by up to 25%, Walmsley said she was “hopeful and ambitious” that the standoff with the pharma industry can be resolved. According to the Academy of Medical Sciences, the government’s drug pricing announcement could come by the end of this week. Walmsley, who will hand over the top job to Luke Miels, currently GSK’s chief commercial officer, at the end of the year, said: “What everyone is putting their energy into, hopefully resolving, is how we make sure this country creates the right commercial environment. “Without that, it’s going to be very difficult to be able to be a leading life sciences superpower, which is what we want … and we are not going to secure something else we all want, which is patient access to innovation.” A potential deal between industry and government is tied up with negotiations with Donald Trump’s administration over drug pricing, after the US president put pressure on companies to lower their prices – historically much higher than elsewhere – and invest in the US, or face trade tariffs. Walmsley noted that the NHS spends less than 10% of its budget on medicines, a lower figure than in the past. Her remarks came a day after the science minister, Patrick Vallance, said that “some degree of price increase is inevitable”. He told MPs on the science committee: “For brand new, innovative medicines it’s likely there will be some price increase.” A price rise will require additional funding for the NHS at a time when Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, faces tough decisions to balance the books, and is likely to breach Labour’s election promises not to raise one of the big three taxes of VAT, income tax and national insurance. “We’ve discussed the fact that if there’s a rise in price for innovative medicines, that comes with a cost load, and that needs to be met,” Lord Vallance said. The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, representing trusts and other health organisations, said this week that the cost of covering redundancies and strikes, along with paying more for medicines, was not included in the budget and will need extra cash from the chancellor. While GSK is investing $30bn in US manufacturing and research, Walmsley reaffirmed the company’s support of the UK’s life sciences strategy and its commitment to Britain. This is in contrast with other pharmaceutical groups which have scrapped or paused investments in the UK, including MSD, known as Merck in the US, and its British rival AstraZeneca. GSK raised its 2025 sales and profit forecasts, driven by double-digit growth in respiratory, inflammation and immunology, oncology and HIV treatments. Shares in GSK jumped by almost 6%, making it one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100. The company reported a pretax profit of £2.5bn for the third quarter, compared with £64m a year earlier, which reflected the $2.2bn (about £1.7bn) settlement of US court cases over claims that its Zantac drug caused cancer. GSK denies that the drug caused cancer. Vaccine sales rose by 2% to £2.7bn in the quarter to 30 September, mainly driven by sales outside the US. In the US, GSK reported a 15% drop in sales of its shingles vaccine, Shingrix. Vaccination rates in the US have slowed since Robert Kennedy Jr, an anti-vaxxer, became health secretary. He has cut funding for research and ousted the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walmsley said: “We remain very cautious about the environment in the US.”