On a visit to the UK to see industry folk and government types, Eli Lilly’s John Lechleiter, president and coo, got tough. He complained that recent efforts to limit pricing are short-sighted and could threaten R&D investment in the UK.

“This country is one of the last two countries in the world (with the US) where the industry has freedom over pricing,” he tells PharmaTimes. “Pricing is core to the research which underpins our products here.”

Lilly has invested nearly $400 million to upgrade its research facilities and operations in the UK, but the rise in R&D costs and drop in the number of drug approvals threatens to become a bigger issue. And so Lechleiter didn’t rule out that emerging economies in China and India were becoming attractive options.

Look into most any crystal ball, though, and one is likely to see large drugmakers putting down stakes in those nations, anyway. By letting Lilly charge what it wants, does Lechleiter mean to suggest the drugmaker will maintain its investment in the UK, no matter what? Sorry, but it appears he didn’t say.

[tags]Eli Lilly, Pricing, UK[/tags]