UK pharma industry head fears for future of UK medical research

The UK government is too focused on encouraging “breakthrough drugs” at the expense of significant gains for patients from incremental innovation in medicines, warned Stephen Whitehead, chief executive of the trade group Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). He argued that this approach threatens the future of pharmaceutical medical research in the UK.

The intervention comes shortly before the next round of medicine pricing negotiations, and is the most outspoken assessment of the risks facing the industry Mr Whitehead has made since he started as CEO of the ABPI one year ago.

“The pricing negotiations will decide the future of pharmaceutical research in the UK. If we minimise the reward for innovation in the UK, then our manufacturers will go abroad. Our industry, our economy, and our healthcare system will suffer – UK patients will suffer. The government wants to target resources at big breakthroughs, but the science shows us that developments in medicine are made in small steps,” he said.