UK Pharma Industry Heading For L6 Billion In Exports

Exports of drugs from the UK could be worth around L6 billion ($9.8billion) for 1996, based on 11-month figures, and this would produce a record trade surplus of about L2.5 billion, says the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry in its Annual Review.

Coming just ahead of the UK General Election, ABPI director general Trevor Jones says "these figures are an election reminder to politicians of all parties that our innovative industry does and will continue to make a major contribution to the economic wellbeing of the UK when it is given a fair opportunity to do so."

However, Dr Jones stresses that if the drug industry "is to thrive and continue to produce outstanding results....the domestic market - the National Health Service - must be forward-looking like the industry. There is no place for NHS schemes aimed at cutting the domestic medicines budget without any consideration of the effects on longer-term health and economic costs, patients' wellbeing, or the consequences for future industry research."