AstraZeneca NYSE:AZN, a Britain-based pharmaceutical company, and Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese drugmaker, appear to be moving closer to an agreement with England's pricing regulator that could give some women in England and Wales access to Enhertu, their jointly developed breast cancer medicine. The drug is already widely available across almost all European Union countries and the US, but around 1,000 women in England and Wales who could benefit from it have so far been unable to receive it through the NHS because the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has viewed the treatment as too expensive. Enhertu can extend some breast cancer patients' lives by around six months, making the potential agreement an important development for patients and a notable signal for investors watching AstraZeneca's UK pricing dispute.
A potential deal would also be significant for AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot, who has previously pointed to England's refusal to provide Enhertu to some women on the NHS as an example of shrinking access to innovative medicines in the UK. Soriot has warned that if the UK does not change how it evaluates the cost-effectiveness of new drugs, patients could suffer and drugmakers may direct investment elsewhere. AstraZeneca and Merck & Co NYSE:MRK, a US pharmaceutical company, have already paused or withdrawn investments in England as disagreements over Enhertu and broader medicine pricing have continued, making the talks a closely watched test of whether the UK can improve access while keeping NHS spending under control.
The shift appears to have been helped by recent changes tied to US President Donald Trump's pressure on drug pricing and the recent US-UK trade deal, which raised the threshold for judging whether medicines provide value for money to the NHS. Other possible changes that may support higher prices for life-extending medicines, along with compromises from AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, appear to be helping negotiations move forward, though talks could still be affected by expected changes in the UK government in the coming weeks. If an agreement is finalized, NHS England is expected to secure a lower price than many other European countries, while AstraZeneca's recent 300 million, or $400 million, UK investment suggests the company may see the country as moving in a more constructive direction, even as Soriot has said further change is still needed.