The ABPI has rallied industry leaders to continue its attack against the government’s increased levy on sales of branded medicines to the NHS. 

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is continuing to attack government plans to fix a scheme which now requires companies to record payments up to a quarter to a third (23.5%-35.6%) of a company’s revenue from sales of branded medicines to the NHS. 

The association has now engaged UK pharmaceutical leaders who point out that the rise in payments is making it a challenge to invest in the UK. 

This stands against government plans to make life sciences as a key pillar of its upcoming industry strategy. The pharmaceutical industry already contributes more than £17.6 billion to the UK economy, with £45 billion generated through R&D spillovers. 

The warning from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda and UCB come in a new report that the ABPI has commissioned. 

A significant and acute challenge

Russell Abberley, general manager of Amgen UK & Ireland, complained about “the significant and acute challenges” faced by the life sciences sector in the UK. 

“Global boardrooms are closely monitoring developments, concerned that the UK is further exacerbating its position as an international outlier. It is, therefore, crucial that government acts decisively to partner with industry to resolve this issue,” he said. 

“The commercial environment needs to reflect the level of ambition the government has for the sector and we need to see a substantive and long-term commitment to improvement as a key plank of the life sciences strategy,” said Tom Keith Roach, president of AstraZeneca UK. 

“The size of the rebates and their unpredictability have had a major impact on our work in the UK and our investment here. We would love to celebrate the positive parts of the UK’s life sciences ecosystem, but they are often over-shadowed by the fact that we are a noticeable international outlier for the wrong reasons,” said Kylie Bromley, vice president and managing director of Biogen UK. 

While no other country has an identical scheme to the UK, comparable sales rebate schemes in Germany with 7% payment rates, Ireland with 9% payment rates, and France with an average 5.7% rate which is capped at 12%, show that the UK is far outside international norms.