U.S. Takes Aim at U.K.’s Path to Cheap Drugs, Corbyn Says
U.S. Takes Aim at U.K.’s Short Path to Cheap Drugs, Corbyn Says
Talks between U.S and U.K. trade representatives mapping out a post-Brexit deal focused on how long drugmakers can avoid cheaper generic competition for high-priced products, according to government documents released by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The documents made public Wednesday show that meetings between the U.S. and U.K. repeatedly returned to the issue of exclusivity for costly biologic drugs. Exclusivity is typically longer in the U.S., protecting the medicines against competition from cheaper copies.
The U.K.’s departure from the EU remains a political quagmire, and Corbyn and his Conservative opponent Boris Johnson are focusing their efforts on showing which is the more dependable steward for the country’s 71-year-old National Health Service. While each candidate has pledged new support for the government-funded program, Corbyn has charged that Johnson is willing to make it a bargaining chip in post-Brexit trade negotiations, which the current prime minister denies.
The 451 pages of documents, earlier released in redacted form, show the U.S seeks “total market access” to the U.K., Corbyn said. “This election is now a fight for the survival of our National Health Service.”
The documents date to meetings that took place as early as July 2017, well before Johnson became prime minister about five months ago. Johnson told reporters Wednesday that there “will be no sale of the NHS, no privatization.”
Corbyn’s accusations are a “conspiracy theory” and people “should not believe a word,” International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently complained about lower prices charged for medications in other countries, saying that this puts an extra burden on U.S. patients. An extended exclusivity period in the U.K. could keep prices higher for longer, boosting pharmaceutical companies’ sales but potentially saddling the NHS with the cost.
The White House declined to comment and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office didn’t return a call seeking comment.
According to a summary of a November 2017 discussion, a U.S. trade negotiator said: “There is a lot of conversation on drug prices and looking at what other countries pay and this is causing angst. There are worries that the U.S. is not getting a good deal in pharmaceutical industries.”
The meeting provided insight into what the U.S. was likely to pursue in a free trade agreement, according to the 2017 document.
“The impact of some patent issues raised on NHS access to generic drugs (i.e. cheaper drugs) will be a key consideration going forward,” the paper said.
--With assistance from Susan Decker and Josh Wingrove.
To contact the reporter on this story: John Lauerman in London at jlauerman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Marthe Fourcade
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