New indicators for the UK pharmaceutical industry

Citation

(2002), "New indicators for the UK pharmaceutical industry", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 15 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2002.06215bab.009

New indicators for the UK pharmaceutical industry

New indicators for the UK pharmaceutical industryKeywords: Performance, ABPI, Pharmaceutical companies

New competitiveness and performance indicators for the UK pharmaceutical industry were published for the first time in November. A total of 46 competitiveness and performance indicators, published jointly by the Department of Health and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), cover a wide range of factors which measure the attractiveness of the UK as a location for research-based pharmaceutical companies to do business and the performance of the UK-based industry compared with the industries in other countries. The data for this first set of indicators were collected by economists from the Office of Health Economics, the ABPI, and the Department of Health. They show that the UK remains a prime location for the research-based pharmaceutical industry to do business.

The publication of the indicators follows a commitment in the March 2001 report of the Pharmaceutical Industry Competitiveness Task Force (PICTF), to compile and publish competitiveness and performance indicators agreed as broad measures of factors that affect the competitiveness’of the UK as a location for the industry. They include measures such as:

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  the quality of the science base and of labour supply;

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  the demand for medicines and the speed at which new medicines can reach the market;

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  industry outputs in terms of innovation and contribution to the economy;

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  the amount of venture capital invested in the pharmaceutical industry;

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  the amount of government expenditure on research and development in medical and biological sciences.

Where information is available, the UK is compared with its main competitor countries in this sector.

Health Minister Lord Philip Hunt said:

We know that the UK's pharmaceutical industry has an outstanding track record of innovation, with people all around the world benefiting from medicines originating in this country. It is important for both government and industry to have objective comparative measures to see whether we are building on that success. The information in this first set of indicators confirms that the UK continues to punch above its weight in this sector.

According to Tom McKillop, Chief Executive of AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical industry is one of the UK's most successful sectors, investing £3 billion a year in research and development, contributing over £2 billion to the UK's trade balance, and providing 60,000 high quality jobs. However, he added that the UK industry is competing in a highly competitive global industry and cannot be complacent. Government and industry need to work to keep the UK competitive edge. He said that it is a sign of the strength of partnership between government and industry that they can produce together these objective figures measuring how well the industry is doing.

This is the first year of publication of these figures, and their main purpose is to set the baseline against which future years can be measured, but some conclusions can be drawn from them. In particular they show that the UK has:

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  a pharmaceutical industry that contributes significantly to the UK economy;

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  a comparatively strong scientific research base;

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  an impressive record of pharmaceutical innovation;

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  a relatively rapid regulatory process for medicines, compared with other countries; and

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  a relatively slow uptake of new medicines by prescribers.

Also published were two reports that were produced as part of the PICTF process, but which the Task Force agreed should be published to show the detailed analysis that lay behind some of the conclusions of the main PICTF report. They are the Access and Competitiveness Study and a report on the Value of the Pharmaceutical Industry to the UK Economy. These have been published electronically, and are available through the Web sites of both the Department of Health and the ABPI at www.doh.gov.uk and www.abpi.org.uk respectively. The main PICTF Report is available at: www.doh.gov.uk/pictf/index.htm