U.K.'s DoH, ABPI agree on pricing proposals

The U.K.'s Department of Health (DoH) and the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) agreed to an outline of a new voluntary Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme for the pricing of medicines in the U.K. The proposals include a 5% cut in the cost of drugs sold to the NHS, which includes a base price cut of 2% for all branded medicines combined with additional measures to reduce the price of off patent branded drugs where generic equivalents exist. An additional 2% price cut would be instituted if the total amount NHS spends on drugs exceeds an agreed threshold.

The proposals also include prescribing incentive schemes with Primary Care Trusts to promote the uptake of new drugs and an exemption from price cuts for smaller companies on the first L5 million ($9.8 million) in sales. Smaller companies would be defined as those with 2007 sales of no more than L25 million ($48.8 million). The proposals include a freeze on prices beginning Sept. 1 until the proposed price cuts begin on Jan. 1, 2009. Last year, the U.K. government announced its plans to reform the way that drugs used by the NHS are priced (See BioCentury Extra, Thursday, Aug. 02, 2007). ...