The UK government is pushing for lower initial prices for new drugs and, in return, is saying the National Health Service will pay more later if the meds are proven to offer greater effectiveness, The Financial Times reports.

The move is seen by government officials as an answer to whether patients should be allowed to obtain NHS treatment for cancer and other meds that NICE, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, judges to be clinically effective but insufficiently cost-effective for the NHS to pay for, the FT writes.

Senior government officials say some drugs will be allowed once a review is completed later this month. But in an attempt to reduce the scale of the problem, weekly negotiations are taking place with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, the trade group, over a “risk-sharing” scheme as part of a new long-term drug pricing contract.

Under the scheme, companies would initially lower the price sufficiently to get a drug under NICE’s threshold for approval. There would then be clearer rules for raising the price as evidence of clinical effectiveness grows.

Such deals have already been struck for a small number of drugs and have long been advocated by pharma execs, including Glaxo ceo Andrew Witty (back story).

The talks under way are an attempt to systemize the approach as part of the new pharmaceutical price regulation system being finalized for the start of next year (back story). Obstacles remain to risk-sharing, not least the wide gap between the price for many of these new drugs and the level that would lead to NICE approval, the FT writes.