Abstract
BMI calculates the UK’s pharmaceutical expenditure to have been
GBP18.7bn (US$36.8bn) in 2008. By
2013, we expect the total amount spent
on prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to have
reached a
value of GBP21.2bn equating to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5%.
In US dollar
terms, however, as a result of the weakening pound, drug
market expenditure will fall sharply from
US$36.8bn in 2008 to US$26.6bn
in 2009.
In BMI’s Business Environment Rankings for 2009, the UK is
placed 6th out of the 9 Western European
Markets surveyed in Q209.
Globally, the UK is ranked in 12th position, just behind France and South
Korea, after falling one place in Q209.
In March 2009, it was revealed
that the UK government is considering a proposal that will allow some
doctors to sell OTC medicines to their patients for commercial gain. BMI
believes that the availability of
OTC medicines in dispensing practices
that serve nearly 3.1mn people will help the government push
pharmaceutical spending from the public to private sector. The government has
been encouraging
self-care in a bid to reduce the burden being placed on
the National Health Service (NHS), and in recent
years has taken measures
such as reclassifying a number of prescription medicines to OTC status.
This
has been a key driver of OTC growth and has led to an increase in the
number of active ingredients
available in pharmacies without a
prescription.
Additionally, in March 2009, the Citizen’s Council
recommended that the National Institute for Health
and Clinical Excellence
(NICE) should be more flexible when carrying out assessments on whether an
intervention should be available to the NHS. The body has rarely authorised
medicines that lie above the
GBP30,000 (US$42,984) threshold figure, but
those that have been authorised include drugs for
osteoporosis and motor
neurone disease. The heavy reliance on the use of the quality-adjusted life
year
(QALY) measurement has caused controversy in the past. BMI welcomes
an alteration in rules as this
will create increased transparency in
decision making and may aid communication with drugmakers and
regulatory
bodies.
In early 2009, it was revealed that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown
was in talks with key industry
figures to discuss ways of protecting
pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies, their revenues and
their jobs
as the economy rapidly deteriorates. In December 2008, representatives from
the UK’s
biotechnology industry had called for government investment
to support the sector, after it was suggested
that up to one-quarter of
the UK’s 400 biotech companies could go bust in 2009. BMI believes
that
biotechnology is not an obvious candidate for a bailout as the
industry employs only about 15,000 people
in the UK, compared to the
automobile industry which employs several hundred thousand. Nevertheless,
the sector is vitally important to the UK economy.
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