NHS saved £324million by switching from pricey drugs to cheaper generics
Patients given the cut-price pills include some cancer sufferers, those with rheumatoid arthritis and bowel conditions, with officials saying they are just as effective as the brand names
THE NHS has saved £324million in a year by switching from pricey branded drugs to cheaper generics, officials say.
Hospital regulator NHS Improvement says the ten alternative meds are just as effective but better value for money.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers and inflammatory bowel conditions received the cut-price pills.
NHS Improvement said the NHS spent £17.4billion on medicine in 2016/17 – around 15 per cent of all NHS spending.
Costs have risen by 5 per cent a year since 2010, as new drugs come to market and more patients take multiple tablets.
Health chiefs hope to make a further £200million of savings next year when two more medicines lose their patent.
This includes Herceptin, for breast cancer, and Humira, which treats rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis.
Jeremy Marlow, from NHS Improvement, said: “As more people are diagnosed with long-term conditions, such as arthritis and cancer, we must ensure that the NHS uses its resources as efficiently as possible to treat and care for them.
“By delivering £324million in savings in a single year from switching to better value but equally effective and safe medicines, the NHS has been able to help more patients manage their conditions.
“There is more still to do, with £200million of additional savings to be achieved this year.
“We will also continue to find further opportunities to use medicines more effectively and make every penny of the NHS’s budget count.”
Health minister Steve Barclay said: “We want to support the NHS to make sure every penny is spent effectively. For too long, vital funds have been used to buy expensive medicines instead of equally effective and better value alternatives.”
Dr Keith Ridge, from NHS England, said: “Biosimilar medicines are safe and effective.
“We will be working to promote their use more widely, enabling the NHS to reinvest hundreds of millions of pounds into innovative new treatments and patient care.”
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