Nine of the world’s biggest pharmaceuticals companies have demanded an overhaul of NHS processes that they claim are damaging the “health of the British public and wealth of the British economy”.
In a joint letter to The Telegraph, the drugs giants, including Pfizer, Sanofi and Novartis, have warned that new and innovative medicines are being blocked from the health service by “overly complicated” approval processes and a heavy emphasis on cost control.
They claim that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body that selects drugs for use in the NHS, has approved “fewer than one-in-three medicines” since 2005.
“Medicines should not just be seen as a cost. They are an investment and an essential part of improving patient outcomes,” the letter says. “[Yet] the proportion of medicines refused by NICE is only increasing.”
Jonathan Emms, UK managing director at Pfizer, said: “Right now NICE is saying 'no' too often. It is blocking many innovative new medicines from reaching the UK patients who need them most, medicines that are often readily available in Europe.”
More on this story here.
Eddie
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