The pharmaceutical industry plays a key role in enhancing both the health and wealth of the UK.
Over the years, patients in the National Health Service have been major beneficiaries of the many therapeutic advances made by the pharmaceutical companies operating in this country. The Health Departments in the UK and the ABPI have a common interest in ensuring that safe and effective medicines are available on reasonable terms to the NHS and in maintaining a strong, efficient and profitable pharmaceutical industry.
To ensure the future availability of new and improved medicines in this and other countries, the industry must be capable of sustained research and development. The Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme is a voluntary agreement between the Government and the pharmaceutical industry aiming to create an environment where both these objectives can be achieved. The scheme was first introduced in 1957 and is generally renewed every five years or so. The current scheme runs for five years from January 2009.
The Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme has played a significant role in the relationship between the industry, the NHS and the wider economy since its introduction in the early years of the NHS, but its mechanisms are complex and have not always been set out clearly and perhaps not widely understood.
We are looking closely at proposals around value based pricing, which the Government plans to introduce into the UK from January 2014.
Value based pricing will cover new medicines and a successor scheme to the current PPRS agreement will also be agreed.
Understanding the 2009 PPRS
The 'Understanding the 2009 PPRS' document aims to describe the rationale behind the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and to give a broad outline of the structure and working of the current agreement introduced in January 2009.
Contents of the document:
The Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme
The value of the pharmaceutical industry
The objectives of the PPRS
Promoting access and uptake for new medicines
Delivering value for money
Encouraging innovation
Providing stability, sustainability and predictability
The mechanisms of the PPRS
Download Understanding the 2009 PPRS (PDF, 1.6MB)
Further information
The precise workings of the scheme are complex, and the full text of the 2009 PPRS is available on the Department of Health website.
Read the Decisions of the 2009 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme Dispute Resolution Panel