Drug firm bosses call for price increases in Europe amid tariff uncertainty

The bosses of leading pharmaceutical firms are urging the European Union to allow them to increase medicine prices amid uncertainty over tariffs in the sector.

Drugmakers warned Europe it will fall further behind the US without stronger investment incentives.

The boss of AstraZeneca said Europe should increase spending on health treatment in line with recent commitments to boost investment in defence.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive of the Cambridge-based company, said: “The world order is shifting right now and Europe needs to invest more in what really matters to it.

“Europe has stepped up to invest more in defence and now it must protect its health sovereignty.

“Europe spends a substantially lower share of GDP (gross domestic product) on innovative medicines than the US and, as a result, is falling behind in attracting R&D (research and development) and manufacturing investments, putting its ability to protect the health of its own people at risk.”

Firms said the US pays almost three times as much for branded and generic medicines than similar countries.

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has criticised other nations for “freeloading” on US consumers, arguing that higher prices paid by American patients are enabling lower costs elsewhere.

He signed an executive order last week aimed at lowering drug prices for Americans.

The US is a particularly large market for global drug companies, representing more than 40% of their sales on average.

In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the bosses of firms including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer called for increased investment.

The firms said “clear signals and radical policy change” are needed to avoid the development and manufacturing of medicines in the Europe to be redirected to the US or other fast-growing economies.

The chief executives added that “continued trade tensions” will further accelerate the erosion of R&D and manufacturing investments in the EU.

“Given the increasingly competitive global environment, Europe needs to rethink its pricing policy and laws even more urgently by enabling a better commercial environment for innovative medicines which ensures that member states contribute fairly based on their economic and epidemiological conditions,” the bosses said.