Pharmaceuticals in the UK 25% of top 100 medicines discovered in the UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 07 Aug 2004 - 13:00 PDT

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-- A quarter of the world's top 100 medicines were discovered and developed in Britain, more than any country except the USA.

-- The industry invested £3.5billion in UK research and development in 2002 - nearly £10 million every day.

-- Pharmaceutical companies carry out nearly a quarter of all industrial research and development in the UK and spend more than a fifth of their turnover on R & D.

-- UK pharmaceutical industry exports in 2003 were an estimated £11.8 billion, creating a record trade surplus of £3.1 billion. Exports per employee in 2003 were around £150,000.

-- The pharmaceutical industry provides the nation's medicines to the NHS at a daily cost of just 40 pence per person - less than half of what we spend on alcoholic drinks.

-- Medicines account for only about 13 per cent of total NHS costs, despite a constant growth every year in the number of prescriptions issued.

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