Pharmaceutical industry to pay 7.8 percent of NHS 2016 drugs bill

A new financial agreement has been announced this week as part of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS). The pharmaceutical industry will pay 7.8 percent towards the cost of NHS drugs, which will equate to approximately 550 million pounds.

The level is based on the growth of medicines expenditure. It is a drop of 2.56 percent from 2015, but more than double that of 2014. The deal is the first in the new structure of payments, meaning that around 200 million pounds of the estimated payments for 2017 and 2018 will be brought forward to 2016. This will support the government's promise to give additional funding to the NHS. 

The PPRS scheme is non-contractual. Pharmaceutical companies voluntarily contribute towards the cost of medicines, with the aim of making the latest treatments affordable for the NHS.