Discount change focuses attention on GSK trading scheme
Changes announced last week to the zero-discount
scheme for NHS pharmacy reimbursement in England and Wales (PJ, 29 April, p495) have focused attention on GlaxoSmithKline's trading terms.
Although the changes are intended to be cost-neutral at a national level,
individual pharmacies will lose out if they dispense high volumes of
products on which no discount is available and which are not included
in the new zero-discount scheme.
As a result, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has called
on manufacturers of affected products to reinstate
discounts for pharmacy contractors. A meeting between PSNC and GSK representatives
is to be held shortly, at which GSK will be urged to reinstate discounts
for pharmacy contractors.
Last year, because GSK discontinued discounts on certain products, IVAX
removed discount from a number of its products that compete directly
with GSK undiscounted products.
Generic supplier TEVA, which recently acquired IVAX, operates a similar
scheme to GSK, but with all its products contributing to the discount
available once a monthly spend threshold of £399 is passed.
A TEVA spokesman said that all IVAX products would soon be included in
the TEVA discount scheme. |
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