PRESS RELEASE: Campaigners demand investigation into big pharma’s “cartel-like” threats to the NHS
PRESS RELEASE - 30 SEPTEMBER 2025 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Letter argues campaign to push up the price the NHS pays for medicines appears to be coordinated effort that could be breaking competition law
Impact on patients and NHS adds to the importance of a formal Competitions and Markets Authority investigation, groups say
This story has already been covered in POLITICO
Three health and economic justice organisations have written to the Competition and Markets Authority asking it to investigate whether the pharmaceutical industry has been breaking anti-cartel competition law by coordinating a campaign designed to boost their profits by pressuring the UK government into spending more money on medicines for the NHS.
The letter comes as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief business adviser Varun Chandra travels to Washington this week, reportedly to offer more money to the pharmaceutical industry.
The letter highlights the large number of public announcements being made by pharmaceutical companies criticising UK spending on medicines, alongside decisions to pause or cancel investment, particularly in the build up to US President Donald Trump’s state visit earlier this month. It is a breach of the Competition Act for business to coordinate investment decisions.
The letter argues:
“We believe there is a significant risk that a number of companies, in partnership with their representative trade body, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, have been making and timing their actions and public announcements in a coordinated manner to align business strategies for anti-competitive purposes. Their intention is to drive up the prices of their products in the UK, and increase their profits.”
The letter referenced a news report which quoted an unnamed UK government source as saying that the decisions of multiple drug companies to suspend investment in the country “look very co-ordinated from the outside”.
Diarmaid McDonald of patient-led campaign group, Just Treatment, one of the authors of the letter said:
“There has been a constant drumbeat of stories building pressure on the UK government - it looks extremely suspicious. And it is extremely serious. Every NHS patient in the country is affected by government decisions on how to allocate valuable resources in our health service. We are already paying over the odds for medicines these companies price at eye-watering amounts thanks to their patent monopolies. If they are also illegally colluding to rip off UK taxpayers and damage the NHS to further boost their profits then it would be an outrage. It is vital the CMA use their powers to find out the truth and ensure charges are brought against those responsible if wrongdoing is found.”
The pharmaceutical industry has a history of covert coordinated action to shape government decision making. In 2014 the Pharmagate scandal in South Africa erupted when leaked documents revealed a well resourced effort by foreign drug companies which planned to use astroturf lobby groups and other unethical tactics to undermine patent law reform efforts there. One of the companies accused of spearheading the Pharmagate plot was Merck/MSD. Earlier this month Merck/MSD followed other pharmaceutical companies in announcing the scrapping of planned investments in the UK.
Claire Godfrey, Executive Director of the Balanced Economy Project, whose work focuses on the harms caused by unchecked abuse of corporate monopoly power, co-authored the letter. She said:
“When pharmaceutical giants abuse their market power—especially through cartel-like coordination—the consequences are devastating. The NHS is forced to pay inflated prices for essential medicines, draining public funds and denying patients timely access to life-saving treatments. Without strong enforcement of competition laws, we risk a future of spiraling costs and deepening health inequality. The CMA should not turn a blind eye.”
Nick Dearden, another co-author of the letter, is the Director of Global Justice Now. He spoke to the wider political context that the letter argues is connected to the actions of the industry:
“We know that many of these pharmaceutical companies have spent years demanding higher prices and pushing back on the NHS’ attempts to keep costs under control. They’re now using Trump’s chaotic trade policy to double down on these demands. It’s vital, if we’re to deliver decent healthcare to British citizens, as well as improving access to medicines globally, we stand up against this offensive. Throwing more money at Big Pharma will not provide the medicines we need at a price we can afford.”
The CMA have acknowledged receipt of the letter, and it has been passed to their intelligence team for further review.
ENDS
For more contact: diarmaid@justtreatment.org
Notes to editors
Just Treatment is a patient-led health justice organisation campaigning to stop corporations undermining the NHS and our right to health.
Balanced Economy Project is a not-for-profit, globally-focused, anti-monopoly organisation whose mission is to reclaim our ability to restructure our economies, by collectively constraining corporate power and building a genuinely democratic economy.
Global Justice Now is a UK-based campaigning organisation part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world.