The outgoing chief executive of the pharmaceutical company GSK says the NHS should pay more for its drugs, in order to create “the right commercial environment” and ensure “patient access to innovation” (UK must reform drug pricing to become life sciences superpower, says GSK boss, 29 October).
Our research shows that UK taxpayers are already paying handsomely for “patient access to innovation” through the £3.4bn in tax relief on profits of patented drugs that the UK has granted GSK via the UK’s “patent box” tax regime. This includes £486m in 2024 alone – larger than the entire budget of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the UK’s main bioscience innovation funder.
