The pharmaceutical partnership is estimated to be worth at least £5bn a year in UK exports but also means the NHS paying more for new branded medicines.

Win, win, win

The Government described the deal, which makes the UK the first country to secure commitment to 0% tariffs on pharmaceutical exports to the US, as a ‘win for British patients, British businesses and the British economy'.

The Government said the deal means some treatments that deliver significant health improvements that might previously have been turned down on cost grounds alone, will now be approved. 

In addition, the UK has secured preferential terms for medical technology exports, with no additional new tariffs on medtech for at least three years and have agreed to work together towards mutual recognition of medical device approvals with the US.

Higher costs for new medicines

Nuffield Trust senior policy analyst Sally Gainsbury said the agreement committed the NHS to paying 25% more for new branded medicines and weakened its cost control and efficiency measures.

Gainsbury said the health benefit of spending on new branded medicines was only half that of extending existing services such as GP care or operations from the waiting list.

‘The agreement will mean an increasing share of the NHS budget will be diverted towards treatments that deliver lower health benefits per pound,' Gainsbury added.

Nuffield Trust has called for the Government to publish its detailed impact assessment of the costs and benefits of the deal.

‘The NHS being rewired by the policy of foreign governments is an unusual step, and needs well-informed debate,' Gainsbury said.