UK pharma contributes £190m to NHS meds bill

The UK pharmaceutical industry has paid the Department of Health £190 million during the first two quarters of 2017 under the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS).

So far in the current scheme, companies voluntarily signed up to the PPRS have handed over £1.9 billion to underwrite growth in the branded medicines covered, £94 million of which was paid during the first quarter of this year.

Under the 2014 PPRS, the industry agreed to pay a rebate when NHS spend on branded medicines exceeds pre-agreed growth rates, to help support use of innovative new treatments at minimal cost.

The latest data shows a 4.5 percent growth in Measured Spend for the 12 months ending Q2 2017 versus 12 months to Q2 2016, while growth for the latest nine months was slightly higher at 4.83 percent.

"The PPRS scheme provides the Department of Health with a mechanism to manage how much they spend on medicines and provides a degree of predictability for the industry," said David Watson, Director of Pricing and PPRS for the ABPI.

"This new Q2 data shows a growth of 'measured spend' – the amount the medicines in the scheme cost – of over 4 percent, but thanks to the PPRS scheme the actual amount spent on those medicines has only grown at just over 1 percent on average per year since 2014."