Pharmaceutical sector questions UK government

Pharmaceuticals are questioning whether investing in the UK is still viable following the government’s decision to abolish a drug pricing scheme.

The government recently renegotiated the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, which covers the price paid by the NHS for branded medicines.

Ministers and biotech firms need to restore good relations if the industry is to prosper in Britain, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Failure to resolve the issue could damage the reputation of the UK as a good place for industry to do business.

“The government’s decision dented business confidence and the reaction from our global head offices moved the matter beyond the UK,” said ABPI president Nigel Brooksby, who also heads up Sanofi-Aventis’s British operations.

“They began to question the integrity of the UK investment environment,” he added.

ABPI is the trade association for more than 70 companies in the UK that produce prescription medicines.

Its members supply more than four-fifths of the medicines prescribed through the NHS.