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Off Patent or
Open Script
opportunities.
By Caroline Pond.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth – To address this, supplementary protection
that’s a great saying isn’t it and it really certificates (SPCs) can extend the patent
applies in the dispensary if you are on the protection by up to five additional years.
ball and you understand the Drug Tariff. Additionally, for paediatric medicines, an
So, what am I talking about here? Well extra six months extension can be granted
I’m talking about taking advantage of under certain conditions.
the sometimes slow response that the Once a patent expires, generic
NHSBSA has to adjusting the generic manufacturers can produce and sell the
prices of medications as they come off same drug, typically at a lower price,
patent. There used to be an absolute gold increasing accessibility. The UK has a good
mine of elevated reimbursement prices generic medicines market, which helps in
a few years back when lots of branded reducing healthcare costs and enhancing
medicines were meeting the end date patient access to essential medicines.
of their patents, but sadly as less new It also means it will potentially create
medicines have come through the life cycle financial opportunity for you as an NHS
of brand to generic, this goldmine has dried dispensing organisation.
up somewhat but there are still nuggets of
profit around if you search them out. The price of a brand-name medicine while
it is still under patent protection is often
First, let’s understand why price referred to as the “brand price” or “branded
advantages occur when a medicine comes price.” This price is typically higher than
off patent. that of generic equivalents, reflecting the
When a new medicine comes to market costs of research, development, marketing,
it has a patent associated with it which and the exclusivity granted by the patent.
protects its exclusivity for a period. The In contrast, the lower price of a drug after
patent system for medicines in the UK is it goes off-patent and generic versions
a critical aspect of the pharmaceutical become available is referred to as the
industry, balancing the interests of “generic price.”
innovators and the public. Patents
provide pharmaceutical companies with Brand prices are listed in the dm+d; generic
exclusive rights to market their inventions, prices are usually found in the Drug Tariff.
typically for 20 years from the filing date, Both of these resources are important to
incentivising innovation by ensuring a you in a dispensing practice, and you need
temporary monopoly on new drugs. This to learn how to use them to find profit
exclusivity allows companies to recoup opportunities.
research and development costs, which dmd-browser.nhsbsa.nhs.uk
are huge in the pharmaceutical industry. nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-
However - given the lengthy regulatory
approval processes, the effective market and-appliance-contractors/drug-tariff
exclusivity period of a drug can be As an example lets, look at a relatively recent
significantly shorter than 20 years. example of a product coming off patent
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