According to newly published data, the pharmaceutical industry invested more than £381m on R&D activities in the UK during 2019 – an increase from just over £377m in 2018.
The data was published by Disclosure UK, a public pharmaceutical industry-led database which details aggregate R&D spend, as well as individual payments and benefits in kind made to UK healthcare professionals (HCPs) and healthcare organisations (HCOs), in order to increase transparency across the sector.
As previously announced by ABPI, the 2019 data has been published in a way designed to minimise any pressure on individual NHS workers, hospitals or other NHS organisations as they respond to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. This has meant some of the 2019 data is not broken down by individual HCPs and HCOs, as it usually would have been done.
This change is intended to be temporary and ABPI plan to republish the usual, more detailed data as soon as possible.
The available 2019 figures show:
- £538.2million has been disclosed by pharmaceutical companies for 2019, compared with £503million in 2018 (excluding joint-working*).
- £381.2million of this was spent on R&D, compared with £377.3million in 2018.
- £157million of this was spent on non-R&D collaborations with HCPs and HCOs in 2019, vs £125.7million in 2018 (excluding joint-working*) Much of this increase was due to payments to healthcare organisations.
A total of 11 new companies have disclosed payments this year, bringing the total number of companies using Disclosure UK to 143.
Richard Torbett, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said: “The 2019 disclosure data available so far tells a hugely positive story – the third successive year of increasing investment by industry in UK R&D. This can only be a good thing for patients and the NHS.
“We will publish the normal breakdown of disclosure data as soon as we are able, and when we do, it should also help us understand more about how the data has changed over time.
“We’re proud of the work we do with the NHS, without which the development of new medicines and vaccines would be impossible, and will continue strive for the highest levels of openness and transparency in the relationships between industry and healthcare professionals.”
