UK pharma trade bodies publish guidance on medicine supply obligations

Representatives of the UK's drug manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies have held a series of constructive meetings to discuss the current supply problems affecting branded medicines, reports the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). The reasons behind the supply problems are complex but a major contributing factor has been changes in the European import and export market, it says.

Essentially, the problem is that, with a fall in the value of sterling, instead of the UK being a net recipient of parallel imported drugs as in the past, as drugs there are cheaper than in other countries, it has become an exporter and thus leading to supply difficulties. A spokesman for the ABPI told The Pharma Letter that, according to the association's research, some one in 10 pharmacies have been over-ordering and are exporting supplies of medicines that they have in stock, leading to shortages in Britain. The pharmaceutical industry has been blamed for this in some media reports.

There is an existing framework in legislation to control the appropriate and continued supply of medicines to patients in the UK. Both manufacturers and wholesalers licensed to trade in the UK have a legal duty to ensure that UK patient needs are met and pharmacists and dispensing doctors have ethical obligations to ensure the needs of patients are always put first.