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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Julia Kollewe

NHS won’t get cutting-edge drugs unless it pays more, says AstraZeneca boss

Pascal Soriot standing in front of a US flag
Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, said that in an extreme future scenario countries would only be able to afford generic drugs. Photograph: Ümit Bektaş/Reuters

The boss of AstraZeneca has said that unless the UK ramps up spending on new drugs, it could be on a trajectory to only being able to afford cheap, generic medicines rather than cutting-edge treatments.

Pascal Soriot made the remarks amid an acrimonious standoff between the pharmaceutical industry and the government over drug pricing, which has been blamed for drugmakers pausing or ditching nearly £2bn of investments in the UK this year.

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