Landmark UK-US pharmaceutical deal

Life Sciences analysis: On 1 December 2025, the UK government announced a ‘landmark’ UK-US pharmaceutical deal. Under the deal, the UK claims to be (so far) the only country to secure zero-percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals exported to the US for the next three years. In return, the UK has committed to increase its spending on medicines and revise some of the most controversial aspects of the UK pricing and reimbursement system. Although details as to the implementation of the deal are still unclear, it is clear this will involve major changes to the landscape for commercializing innovator drugs in the UK, after months of attritional and sometimes fractious wrangling between the industry and UK government.