Report: Spain’s pharmaceutical spending decline is hitting R&D

Data from Spain’s Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality has reported a decline in pharmaceutical spending in 2013, the consecutive annual decrease in four years.

Spain’s trade body Farmaindustria said that in August, public pharmaceutical expenditure at pharmacies experienced a drop of 14.1%, compared to the same month the previous year.

It said the decrease is a result of a fall in the number of prescriptions (-12.8%) and a drop in the average price per prescription of -1.5%. The accumulated expenditure in the 12-month period to August 2013 is 775 million euros ($1 billion) lower than the figure at the end of 2012. It predicts that this difference will be even greater by the end of this year.