ABPI: Drug prices lower than a decade ago

Medicine prices are more than 20 per cent lower in real terms than they were a decade ago, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Despite the fact that an additional 37 million prescriptions were issued by doctors in the UK last year, the 826 million total still means that the UK spends less on medicine than most other European countries.

The budget that the NHS allocates for spending on medicines has dropped, according to the ABPI, to 11 per cent.

“Our latest statistics show that there are some worrying signs over the health of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK,” said Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI.

“The public and politicians need to recognise the NHS is getting excellent value for money invested in UK medicines. However, we have serious concerns over the research and manufacturing base in the country, and our balance of trade ? while still the envy of many other industries ? is now showing a decrease.”

The ABPI has also warned in its Annual Review that as the number of patent-protected medicines in the UK declines, manufacture of the drugs will move ever-increasingly abroad, where overheads can be cheaper.

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