Parallel trade threatens search for new medicines, says ABPI

Parallel trade in medicines is threatening the ability of the research-based industry in the UK to continue its huge investment in the search for new medicines and also threatens the country's ability to attract investment from global companies, Dr Trevor Jones, director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), has told the Social Market Foundation seminar in the House of Commons.

In the UK nearly £9m a day is invested in the search for new medicines. 'Ask the parallel traders how much money they are investing in medical research for new products from the profits they are making,' Dr Jones suggested. 'I think you will find them silent on this issue!' And he went on to point out that parallel trade - although quite legitimate - reduces the money available to the industry for its research into tomorrow's medicines. 'If we cannot continue to earn these revenues in the UK - and, indeed, elsewhere - we certainly will not be able to continue to maintain the level of r&d that we currently do nor, importantly, to retain and attract inward investment from companies headquartered overseas,' Dr Jones stressed.

The NHS gains very little benefit from the income that the parallel traders make, the seminar was told. It gets a small 'clawback' by assuming that pharmacists purchase a certain amount of parallel-traded medicines. But Dr Jones quoted a recent London School of Economics study as showing that the NHS saving, including the clawback, amounts to about £39m while the parallel importers themselves made some £325m - nearly 10 times as much.

The trade can also lead to confusion and loss of patient trust in their therapy, Dr Jones warned, particularly for older people who are the biggest users of medicines. Because parallel traders are required to repackage, rebox or overstick labels, the medicine's appearance is often different from the original.

In some cases, where overstickers are used, the instructions on the calendar pack may remain in a foreign language with only the other information - name, batch number, expiry dates, etc - in English. The difficulty is compounded when the parallel traders switch sourcing their supply from one country to another, with the original language also thus changing.

'This can result in a considerable loss of confidence in the therapy and, at worst, patients become uncertain, worried as to whether they have been given the correct tablets and may either miss doses or stop taking the course of treatment,' said Dr Jones.