Low prices and tariff threats test Big Pharma's ties to UK

AstraZeneca chief is irked by cost of doing business as Eli Lilly raises price of weight-loss drug Mounjaro after presidential pressure, writes Barney Macintyre

- Barney Macintyre

The chief executive of Eli Lilly hinted last month the US drug maker would raise prices for products in Europe after President Trump threatened to peg American prices to those abroad.

The UK has been the first hit, with the company announcing that the price of its weight-loss drug Mounjaro will now rise 170% for those paying for the treatment privately.

A month's supply of the highest dose of the drug will rise from £122 to £330. Suppliers of the drug say they have already started receiving orders to buy Mounjaro in bulk.

Eli Lilly is not alone in feeling the gravitational pull of America's drugs market. On a recent earnings call, Pascal Soriot, chief executive of pharma giant AstraZeneca, urged the UK government to roughly double spending on drugs to 0.6% of GDP by 2030. A month earlier, he chose not to quash reports he had had discussions about listing the company in the US.