Industry doubts government commitment to innovation
pharmafile | March 19, 2008 | News story | Sales and Marketing |
The government has unveiled high plans to make the UK a world leader in innovation, but the pharmaceutical industry remains sceptical.
The ABPI has said it agrees in principle to the new government white paper, Innovation Nation, which shows the need to increase spending and procurement of innovative products and services, but says that the NHS is currently run on opposing principles.
The body has said that the health service consistently fails to take-up new medicines, and has now called for innovation to be 'practiced as well as preached'.
Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI, said: "While [the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills] is absolutely right to identify the role government can play in stimulating innovation, it is at variance with the current NHS reality of providing patients with modern medicines."
He said constant pressure from cost-effectiveness body NICE and local decision-makers are preventing doctors from prescribing new medicines and forcing them to use older generic drugs.
ABPI figures show that the take-up of medicines launched within the past five years is lower in the UK than in the US as well as other comparable European countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
The underwhelming response to the white paper comes as relations between the industry and government are already tense, with pharma under pressure in negotiations over the current PPRS to reduce its prices – a move it says would dissuade investment in UK R&D and have a negative impact on innovation.
Director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, Richard Lambert, also commented on the paper, though with a more positive outlook to the proposals.
He said: "The government talks the right kind of talk in this report, and its aim to make the UK an 'innovation nation' is a laudable one. What we now need to see is action.
"The government can play a big role by harnessing some of its massive £150 billion annual spend on goods and services and helping to kick-start new markets for innovative ways of doing things and tackling big issues such as climate change and security."
