Pharmaceutical companies give NHS Scotland £1 million a week to help fund new treatments

NHS Scotland will receive £70 million from a scheme which helps keep medicines costs under control, according to new data released by ABPI Scotland in the first session of the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee Inquiry into medicines.

ABPI Scotland Director, Alison Culpan, detailed the figures which show that NHS Scotland will receive up to £70 million from pharmaceutical companies over the course of this financial year (2019/20) – or about £1 million a week.

The Scheme – a voluntary agreement between the Industry and Government – works by ensuring that the UK-wide NHS bill for branded medicines cannot grow by more than 2% in any year of the scheme, effectively capping the bill.

Anything above the cap is paid back by pharmaceutical companies to the UK Government and apportioned across the country. The Scottish Government ring-fences this money for spending on innovative new treatments through their New Medicines Fund.  

The previous voluntary scheme – called the PPRS* – delivered £258 million back to NHS Scotland over five years (2014-2019).

Speaking about the Scheme, ABPI Scotland Director Alison Culpan said

“This unique agreement offers the NHS predictability when it comes to purchasing branded medicine and I can’t think of another industry doing more to keep NHS finances in check.

“Thanks to the industry payment, which returns £1 million a week to NHS Scotland, hundreds of patients are able to access life-saving treatments through the New Medicines Fund.

“This is a great deal for both the NHS and patients across Scotland.”

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