The agreement sees the UK’s threshold for what it can pay for new medicines raised by 25%.

A deal that gives the US zero tariffs on its imports of UK pharmaceuticals in return for the NHS raising spending on medicines will cost around £1 billion, Downing Street has said.

The agreement sees the UK’s threshold for what it can pay for new medicines raised by 25%, meaning some that would have been declined as too costly can be approved – such as breakthrough cancer treatments and therapies for rare diseases.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman dismissed reports that the move would cost the NHS some £3 billion a year on average by 2029, saying the figure would be around £1 billion by that time.

He said the cost would gradually climb as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

See Full Page