LONDON — Eli Lilly said it will resume its paused UK investments if ministers agree to regularly increase NHS drug prices and end a rebate scheme that requires pharmaceutical companies to pay back a portion of revenue from branded medicine sales when NHS usage exceeds an agreed rate. The U.S. pharmaceutical group, which makes the Mounjaro weight-loss drug, is in talks with UK ministers on the terms of any renewed commitment.

Patrik Jonsson, president of Lilly's international business, said he was optimistic about reaching an agreement this summer for Britain to pay more for its medicines. "What we would need to see is actually those goals turning into really a well-defined action plan with interventions and timelines," he said.

Lilly was one of several pharmaceutical companies that ditched or paused almost £25 billion in planned investments in the UK last year. The company paused its plans to invest in a laboratory site in central London, and the resumption of that investment will depend on the outcome of its talks with the government.

The talks will explore pricing plans, such as linking payments for anti-obesity drugs to whether the treatment helps patients return to work. "We have 2.8 million of the UK eligible working population that aren't coming to work out of sickness. There are real opportunities to discuss new models, to work together, and that includes outcome-based agreement," Jonsson said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed last year to the first increase in NHS cost-effectiveness thresholds in 27 years. The threshold for potentially life-extending drugs was raised from £20,000–£30,000 to £25,000–£35,000 per year of life gained. The UK also agreed to pay 25 percent more for new medicines by 2035 under a U.S.-UK drug pricing deal.

Jonsson said that prices for medicines in the UK are lower than they were more than 20 years ago, even with the current cost-effectiveness threshold. "The threshold can't be written in stone for another three decades," he said. He added that rebate payments should eventually reach zero over time.

While the NHS has rationed access to the Mounjaro injection, Jonsson said the company was eager to explore additional pricing agreements. Lilly is expected to launch a pill version of the weight-loss drug later this year.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said, "Everyone deserves access to the best and most innovative treatments, and our changes to medicine pricing will make sure thousands of NHS patients gain faster access to new treatments. We remain fully committed to delivering the UK-US pharmaceutical agreement, including the changes to the NICE cost-effectiveness threshold."