Reaction to the Government’s publication of a consultation on changes to the statutory medicines pricing scheme

Warwick Smith, Director General of the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) and the British Biosimilars Association (BBA), said: “It makes no sense for the Government to intervene in pricing when competition or tenders already very effectively control prices of branded generics and biosimilars. In particular, the consultation appears significantly to underestimate the savings already delivered by biosimilars where we have seen price reductions of more than 80% for some products. It is therefore wrong to include products which are subject to competition via tendering in the statutory scheme or the PPRS and also apply an additional rebate of up to 25%.

“These proposed changes will significantly impact biosimilars and manufacturers may be unable to launch products as a consequence. This could  also impact the potential patient benefits of these medicines and threaten Simon Stevens’ objective of £300million of savings in the next three years.”