Prodigy, A Major Concern For UK Pharma Industry

A major current concern for the UK pharmaceutical industry is not a potential change to a Labour government - which in the past would have brought with it threats of nationalization, but rather Prodigy (Prescribing Rationally with Decision Support in General Practice (Marketletter August 12) now being trialled with GPs.

This view was expressed by Trevor Jones, director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. It is not the concept of Prodigy which is the worry, he told journalists at an informal lunch; it's the fact that it has has not been properly thought out, and the fear that it is nothing but a "national formulary." He suggested that arguably the industry might fear that Prodigy prevents company representatives from influencing subscribers. But in fact these days, according to Dr Jones, the reps' traditional role has changed, and they are just as likely to be talking about financial deals.

At present, PRODIGY is based on around 130 products, and confines the GP to a relatively small number of generally old and cheap drugs. Importantly, Dr Jones said, it does not seem to offer any flexibility in terms of new, and possibly more cost-effective, medicines.