Key SummaryA box of 28 Atenolol 50mg tablets, used to treat high blood pressure, is being sold for a mere 3p.Brian Chambers, managing director at AAH Pharmaceuticals, says this is \u201cnot a win. It\u2019s a warning\u201d.He says supply-chain resilience is being destroyed by low prices, and in such a scenario, nobody wins.<\/p>\n
The generic medicines sector is facing significant turbulence, with sustained pricing pressures driving the cost of many products to unsustainably low levels.<\/p>\n
In a recent report, research firm iEthico revealed that a box of 28 Atenolol 50mg tablets – an off-patent beta-blocker used for high blood pressure, angina, and irregular heart rhythms – is being sold for a mere 3p, which is \u201cless than the cost of a paperclip and less than the cost of the blister packaging that holds the tablets\u201d.<\/p>\n
Brian Chambers<\/a>, managing director at AAH Pharmaceuticals, noted that Atenolol selling for 3p is \u201cnot a win. It\u2019s a warning\u201d. He said it is not a triumph of market forces, but a signal that the \u201centire supply chain is breaking down\u201d.<\/p>\n Chambers said pharmacies are chasing the cheapest price every day on price-comparison portals; wholesalers are undercutting each other to hold on to volume, regardless of margin; and manufacturers are being forced to supply below cost to stay in the game.\u201c<\/p>\n The consequences are devastating. \u201cEntire national volumes are ping-ponging from wholesaler A to B to C based on a 1p difference.\u201c<\/p>\n “Forecasting is shattered. Stock ends up in the wrong place. Orders spike and collapse with no logic. Planning becomes impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n He said supply-chain resilience is being destroyed by a race to the bottom, and in such a scenario, nobody wins.<\/p>\n \u201cPharmacies aren\u2019t making more money. Their margin is capped. Wholesalers can\u2019t cover the cost to serve. Manufacturers are absorbing losses just to keep volumes moving.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not efficiency. This is system failure. Value is not being created. It\u2019s being stripped out.\u201d<\/p>\n The iEthico report author, Debra Ainge, said, \u201cAt these prices, it is simply not possible to manufacture drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Ainge observed that when a new drug enters the UK market, the price is set by NICE, \u201cbut when it goes generic, prices hit rock bottom\u201d.<\/p>\n She fears this policy is very short-sighted, as many players would exit the UK market and it could lead to artificial shortages.<\/p>\n The government needs to devise a sustainable pricing system that is beneficial to generic drug makers and pharmacies, she observed.<\/p>\n Chambers too warns about artificial shortages. \u201cWe are not seeing mass shortages yet. But we are already seeing volatility, stock imbalances, service erosion, and inconsistent availability.\u201c<\/p>\n When manufacturers eventually exit – and at these prices, they will – we will lose products for good.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the situation is not sustainable. \u201cAnd the longer we ignore it, the worse it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n Chambers said it\u2019s not hard to understand why pharmacies are behaving this way.<\/p>\n \u201cPharmacies are fighting for survival. The contract is broken. Inflation has soared. Funding has flatlined.\u201c<\/p>\n They are using the tools available to them to protect their business. Nobody can blame them for that. This is survival mode.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this behaviour is now hurting the very system they rely on. It is accelerating the collapse of the generics model. And that is a risk to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n He observed that this isn\u2019t how it used to work. \u201cThere used to be strategic partnerships. Shared planning. Predictable volumes. Loyalty. That has been lost.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat exists now is a fragmented, reactive system, and a false sense of savings.<\/p>\n \u201cBuying cheaper each day feels like a win – until the day the product is gone or reimbursement collapses.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding solutions to break the impasse, he said procurement technology cannot be scrapped. \u201cThe portals are here to stay. But we have to find a better way to use them. We need to reintroduce some commitment, some consistency, some partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cWholesalers and pharmacies need each other. The wider system needs to evolve, because right now, it\u2019s failing all of us.<\/p>\n \u201cFund pharmacy properly. Reform the tariff. Rebuild the model – before this breaks down completely.\u201d<\/p>\n Medicines UK<\/a> chief executive Mark Samuels said generic medicine prices are at historic lows, placing strain across the entire supply chain.<\/p>\n Samuels also welcomed the government\u2019s pledge to boost medicines spending but argued that the commitment must extend to all medicines, not just patented products.<\/p>\n