Corbyn’s attack on Big Pharma will hurt us all
ONCe again the brilliance of Britain’s medical research has been recognised by the Nobel Prize committee, with the shared award going to Sir Peter ratcliffe of Oxford University and the francis Crick institute for work on how cells react to oxygen.
The discovery is seen as opening the door to new ways of combating anaemia and cancer.
The recognition provides a sharp reminder of how the UK’s great research universities, together with Big Pharma, have combined to make the UK a world leader in the development of medicines.
The success illustrates why Jeremy Corbyn’s gimcrack idea to curb the free market in ethical drugs is so misplaced and could stifle future r&d and breakthroughs.
As part of a bid to put ‘ public health before private profit’, the labour party is proposing a stateowned drugs company to supply cheap medicines to the NHS. it would overturn patents on some new drugs and threaten Britain’s world- leading pharmaceutical giants with loss of research grants unless they agreed to cut prices.
The idea has simple appeal. And, as Corbyn has pointed out, there are countless examples of the NHS limiting access to expensive drugs.
indeed, this paper has campaigned against the seemingly heartless rulings of the National institute for Health and Care excellence (NiCe) in restricting some highly- priced, late- stage treatments for breast cancer that may buy patients extra time.
The reality is that the NHS must make difficult choices about how its taxpayer-funded budget of £138bn (2020-21) is spent. rationing of care and treatment is an inevitable consequence. As with any free market there is the potential for abuse by unscrupulous firms.
But to suggest that the answer to these problems is a stateowned and state-regulated drugs company is folly. The NHS is already able to bulk purchase generic drugs (those out of patent) at low prices.
labour not only puts at risk an industry in which the UK has a huge competitive advantage globally, but also tens of thousands of jobs here – and the health of millions worldwide.
So let me make a suggestion to Corbyn ( pictured) and his apparatchiks: why not take a trip to Cambridge? There he will find that Britain’s leading edge pharmaceutical firm, Astrazeneca, is putting the finishing touches to a £1bn investment in europe’s most advanced medical research and development centre.
Critically, the new steel and glass edifice will offer access to research scientists from the neighbouring university campus, and to the dozens of biotechnology start-ups. rooted firmly in the private sector, but based on science originating from our great universities, Big Pharma has a long history of delivering The prosperity, jobs and prestige. UK’s proud tradition of medical research and development, drug discovery, testing and bringing to the market, is the envy of the developed world. labour’s determination to take on Big Pharma could have a catastrophic impact.
A government that seeks control over the price of medicine, cutting the profits of such companies would instantly reduce their r&d investment and trigger an exodus overseas. Such a reckless proposition ignores the fact that successive governments have recognised the vital contribution Big Pharma makes to the economy by generous support for research.
The work in Cambridge, the francis Crick institute in london and elsewhere – in association with British pharmaceutical and biotech companies big and small – is paying off handsomely.
Astra is among world leaders in developing immunology treatments, which offers a real possibility of a cure for lung, breast and other cancers.
Glaxosmithkline, meanwhile, is the world’s most advanced creator of vaccines. its groundbreaking cervical cancer vaccine, cervarix, protects against two of the most common forms of the disease and is now being widely administered to teenagers and young women. HPV infection rates are falling dramatically.
The firm’s shingrix vaccine, which protects against painful shingles infection, has become an immediate blockbuster with sales of more than $1bn a year. Patents allow a company to protect its investment in a new treatment. it means prices remain high for some years.
But that is necessary to pay for the tens of millions, if not billions of pounds that it costs to bring medicines to market. When those patents expire, generic drug firms across the world replicate the compounds cheaply.
it is immoral that some pump up the cost of their products. The price of buprenorphine, a drug used to manage heroin addiction, recently soared from £16 to £700 a month after a supply issue (now resolved).
However, the consumer regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, has dealt aggressively with pharma companies accused of conspiring to keep prices up.
British pharmaceutical firms make big profits. But they are necessary if we want new medicines to improve existing treatments and save lives. glaxo has spent just under £ 20bn on research and development over the five years to the end of 2018. Astrazeneca spent nearly £30bn.
And one final thought, Mr Corbyn. As British companies, these firms are huge contributors to the nation’s tax base and support the pension of every worker in Britain. So if you take on Big Pharma, be prepared for the consequences.