New study debunks the myth of a rising medicines bill in the UK

A ground-breaking new UK National Health Service medicines bill projection by the Office of Health Economics (OHE) has been published in Pharmaeconomics. This study corrects common misconceptions by clearly showing that NHS spending on medicines is under control, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

The OHE projections estimate that, between 2011 and 2015, with no change in policy or price regulation, the UK total medicines bill would increase at an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of between 3.1% and 4.1 %. Total NHS spending on branded medicines and total NHS spending on generics are projected to increase at average CAGRs of 0.5%–1.8% and 10.0%–11.0 %, respectively, over the same time period. For the total market, the actual growth rate for 2012 lay within the OHE’s projected range.

Report welcomed by ABPI

ABPI chief executive Stephen Whitehead has welcomed the OHE publication. Medicines prices in the UK are already among the lowest in Europe. Indeed total medicine costs in the UK represent only 0.9% of GDP per annum, compared to a 1.7% average for comparable major European countries, the ABPI noted.