Market Report, "United Kingdom Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2012", published

May 3, 2012 - PRLog -- While the strength of the UK's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is significant, the sector will face considerable challenges over the coming years. Economic weakness, patent expirations and cost-containment with regard to public sector spending will negatively affect the country's attractiveness to drug manufacturers. In order to address these issues, the government is consulting on a new 'early access scheme' with a view to making new drugs and technologies in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals available more quickly than ever before, particularly in areas where new treatments are urgently needed, such as brain cancer. Additionally, the government has introduced a new GBP180mn (US$281mn) catalyst fund to support the next generation of brilliant British medical breakthroughs, targeting the funding gap that exists between the moment an idea is developed in a laboratory and the point of market application.

------------------------------------------------------------
Full Report Details at
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/359404_united_kingdom_pharmace...
------------------------------------------------------------

Headline Expenditure Projections

* Pharmaceuticals: GBP23.81bn (US$38.33bn) in 2011 to GBP23.59bn (US$36.10bn) in 2012: -0.9% in local currency terms and -5.8% in US dollar terms. Historical data slightly higher than in Q112 on account of new data.
* Healthcare: GBP150.36bn (US$242.07bn) in 2011 to GBP155.15bn (US$237.39bn) in 2012; +3.2% in local currency terms and -1.9% in US dollar terms. Historical data slightly lower than in Q112 on account of macroeconomic factors.
* Medical devices: GBP6.63bn (US$10.67nn) in 2011 to GBP6.80bn (US$10.40bn) in 2012; +2.6% in local currency terms and -2.5% in US dollar terms. Forecast unchanged fromQ112.

Risk/Reward Rating: The UK is now ranked fourth out of the 10 Western European markets surveyed (up from fifth in Q112), despite its composite score being 2.2% lower on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis. While the country's risk profile is among the best globally, cost containment and patent expirations will hamper faster growth in pharmaceutical market values. Nevertheless, the market is well developed and regulated and the government is making efforts to boost the healthcare and life sciences sectors - meaning the UK will continue to be one of the most important targets for multinationals.

Key Trends And Developments

* In February 2011, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) asked members of parliament to legally separate pharmacy wholesaling and dispensing activities. The separation will enable pharmaceutical companies to prioritise their services in favour of NHS patients rather than wholesaling activities. The association said the separation will also assure transactions between pharmacies' wholesaling and pharmacy activities are audited properly. The ABPI has asked wholesalers to support its stand on the abolishment of Section 10 (7) of the Medicines Act, which enables a pharmacy to trade up to 5% of its turnover without a wholesaler dealer licence.
* The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recently accepted comments on proposals to remove 69 individual fees and cut fees across the board by 7% in 2012. The agency plans to revoke the Medicines (Products for Human Use) (Fees) Regulations (SI 2010 No 551) and make amendments to offer one comprehensive set of rules with regard to the fees it charges for the regulation of medicines. It has proposed cutting the decentralised procedure fees by 10% in cases where the UK is the Reference Member State (RMS), and will remove the differential fee for electronic submissions (cCTD) - a move that will be applauded by the pharmaceutical industry.
* The UK government plans to introduce a new strategy to improve healthcare for children and young people. The Children's and Young People's Outcomes Strategy will focus on children requiring primary, hospital and urgent care, as well as children with long-term conditions. The government will also set up the Children's and Young People's Forum, which will include independent experts from local government, the NHS and charities, and aims to improve health service outcomes for child health and address long-standing system issues.

BMI Economic View: The UK economy faces another tough year in 2012, with the eurozone sovereign debt crisis potentially triggering a double-dip recession (or worse) and denting the potentially positive impact of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee. We forecast that GDP growth will fall to below 1.0% - thus essentially flat-lining even in the best-case scenario - on the assumption that Europe's politicians prevent an outright meltdown of the euro. The UK is heavily exposed to Europe via financial and trade channels and so a failure to stem the crisis would drive the economy back into recession.

BMI Political View: We anticipate a period of heightened political risk in the UK as parliament is set to decide on a number of key reform proposals, and the electoral cycle enters a new phase. We expect the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition to hold together until the next general election in 2015, but BMI cautions that political noise could well rise over coming months, with the potential for policy myopia developing. A number of different policy and political issues have the potential to severely test policy continuity or even pull the coalition asunder, including the NHS Reform Bill.

About Business Monitor International

Business Monitor International (BMI) offers a comprehensive range of products and services designed to help senior executives, analysts and researchers assess and better manage operating risks, and exploit business opportunities, across 175 markets.  BMI offers three main areas of expertise: Country Risk BMI's country risk and macroeconomic forecast portfolio includes weekly financial market reports, monthly regional Monitors, and in-depth quarterly Business Forecast Reports.  Industry Analysis BMI covers a total of 17 industry verticals through a portfolio of services, including in-depth quarterly Country Forecast Reports.  View more research from Business Monitor International at http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/publishers.aspx?pubid=1010