ABPI seeks to set record straight on industry's contribution

Figures from pharma are used to attempt to explain the complexities of an industry where public perception does not always reflect the reality, and such was the evident motivation in a letter written by Richard Torbett, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) executive director, UK commercial.

In his capacity as a representative of the UK trade group, Dr Torbett wrote in in the Letters section of The Financial Times in reaction to a previous column based on a study on the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) entitled Cancer fund failure highlights the dilemma of pricing drugs.

Dr Torbett particularly takes umbrage at the portrayal of the CDF, a scheme set up to give UK patients early access to oncology drugs, as a ‘tragedy’ for patients, and also the wider characterization of medicines as being unaffordable.