AbbVie, Eli Lilly Leave UK's Voluntary Medicines Pricing Agreement Over Increasing Prices

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said pharmaceutical giants AbbVie Inc ABBV and Eli Lilly And Co LLY have withdrawn from Britain's voluntary medicines pricing agreement.
Companies are increasingly arguing that it is no longer possible to justify the UK's "voluntary scheme" to global boardrooms and investors as repayment rates in 2023 have surged to 26.5% of revenue due to failings in the existing scheme's design.
The news follows a wider industry warning in December when the government announced manufacturers of branded medicines within the Voluntary Scheme would be required to return almost £3.3 billion in sales revenue to the government (26.5% of sales), up from around £0.6 billion in 2021 and £1.8 billion in 2022.
"The current scheme has harmed innovation, with costs spiraling out of control, and the UK falling behind other major countries to be left as a global outlier," said Laura Steele, president, and general manager for Eli Lilly's Northern Europe division.
Due to increased UK health needs, including to address the backlog following the pandemic, NHS demand and use of new medicines to treat patients have grown much faster than industry pre-pandemic projections – driving up the repayment rates far beyond sustainable levels.
Price Action: LLY shares are down 0.42% at $360.11, and ABBV shares are up 0.08% at $153.72 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.
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