BGMA Welcomes The Preliminary Report Of The European Commission Sectoral Inquiry Into The Pharmaceutical Industry, UK

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 01 Dec 2008 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Welcoming DG Competition's preliminary report published, BGMA Director Warwick Smith said:

The report clearly shows that the so-called research based pharmaceutical sector devotes more resources to trying to prevent generic competition and marketing its products than it does to developing new medicines needed by patients.

It is the job of the originator sector to develop new treatments. They get 15 years or more of market monopoly for new products during which time they make a profit on their investment. Generic companies then provide competition which acts as an incentive on the originators to develop new medicines, and reduces the drugs bill for the NHS so that it can afford to pay for them.

We strongly support this system. During the recent discussions on the PPRS, the originators made much of the need to get new products to market. We support them in that too. But the European Commission's report shows that their commercial strategies are more about extending the life of the older products and preventing generic competition than reducing the NHS drugs bill and developing new medicines.

Originators must live up to their promises. That means shifting their resources from their ad agencies and their lawyers into the laboratories. If they don't, for all their arguments on the PPRS, the NHS will keep paying too much for branded medicines and patients won't get the new medicines they need.

Note

1. DG Competition Report

Antitrust: preliminary report on the pharmaceutical sector inquiry can be found here

2. About the BGMA

The BGMA is made up of 19 members of the generic manufacturing industry, who between them account for around 85% of the UK market by volume.

The Association represents the interests of United Kingdom-based manufacturers and suppliers of generic medicines and promotes the development of the generic medicines industry in the United Kingdom.

BGMA