Impact of monopoly generics on NHS drugs bill
Posted in News
In October, the Court of Appeal ruled against Pfizer’s claim to patent protection on pregabalin (Lyrica) for pain relief, upholding the decision of a lower court. This decision means that generic manufacturers may supply generic forms of pregabalin provided they take ‘all reasonable steps within their power’ to ensure prescribing is not for the patent-protected indication. Pfizer announced that it intended to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
We calculate a total additional cost of more than £60 million was incurred by secondary care in England due to the patent-protected indication – the overall impact of six monopoly generic drugs has been equivalent to 12 months’ drug spend of the 10th biggest hospital in the country!