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Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, asks ‘Is Alendronate Tabs 70mg 4 as fragile as cut glass?’
Ever since Alendronate Tabs 70mg 4 was launched in the UK as a Generic back in March 2005 the Drug Tariff has closely followed the Pharmacy purchase price, leaving little room for profit for either Manufacturers, Wholesalers, Pharmacists or Dispensing Doctors.
In early 2022 the average market price for this product reached a low of £0.22 and stayed the same for three months. This probably made Manufacturers think realistically about the profit potential of this product. Prices stayed low until April of that year when they started rising, eventually reaching a high of £12.66 in August 2022.
Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, asks, ‘If launched in the UK, how quickly might the price of Empagliflozin decay?’
Since April 2025 the MHRA have granted 24 Marketing Authorisation Licenses for Empagliflozin Tablets (10mg and 25mg variants). However, we are currently in legal limbo as patents still exist on the Brand which prevent Generic launch.
We have seen that the Wholesale industry are gradually swapping over from using the Brand name on their price lists and invoices to using the Generic name. We also notice that some Wholesalers are including these products in the Generic price lists, we presume this is in preparation for a potential Generic launch.
UK Price Watch – Generics Bulletin
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on September 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData.
Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA UK) Supply Chain Resilience Group meeting September 2026
The creation a Single National Formulary (SNF) for England was back as the agenda at the Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA UK) Supply Chain Resilience Group which Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, attended last week.
UK Price Watch – Generics Bulletin
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on August 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData.
Charles Joynson asks, ‘Did DHSC shoot itself in the foot?’
In late 2025 and early 2026 the English Drug Tariff declined to its lowest point for four strengths of Ramipril Capsules (£0.68 – £0.75). This was a few months after the market prices of these products reached their lowest level (£0.26 – £0.34). More recently concessions of between £0.73 and £6.82 have been granted each month since January to help Pharmacies dispense.
UK Price Watch – Generics Bulletin
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on July 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData.
UK Price Watch – Generics Bulletin
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on June 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData.
What will my brand be worth after LOE?
If your brand is approaching its loss of exclusivity you maybe starting to think about the launch of generics. You’ll be concerned with how long you can maintain margin and retain he brand. Is it worth brand equalising, and if so for how long? In these situations, it’s very useful to have price analogues to help you forecast, or at least make some intelligent guesses about what market prices will be like in the months and years after loss of exclusivity.
How will generics compete with my brand after loss of exclusivity?
We often get asked to provide historical market prices so that manufacturers can gain an understanding of the competition their brand is likely to face after loss of exclusivity.
Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, conducts a deep dive on Respiratory Brands and Parallel Imports.
The graph shows the average PI price for a group of respiratory products. Each of the branded products shown in the chart is heavily effected by parallel imports as they were the most commonly traded PI respiratory products in May 2026, and in the top 12 of all PI’d products in that month.
Generics Bulletin – UK Price Watch
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on May 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData. Dave Wallace, editor at Generics...
Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, takes a look at Aspirin E/C Tabs 75mg 28 long term price trends.
Looking at the long-term graph comparing the English Drug Tariff with the average UK market price it does look as if there has been a profit squeeze on this product, primarily affecting Pharmacies, but this has resulted in a series of price bounces and shortages.
UK Price Watch
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on April 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData.
Generics Bulletin UK Price Watch March 2026
Check out the latest UK Price Watch article in the Generics Bulletin for analysis and insight on March 2026 product launches, the biggest risers, the biggest fallers and the fastest movers…. with market data provided by WaveData.
Stop the Bounce……
Charles Joynson takes a look at the long term changes to the commercial behaviour of Gabapentin Caps 300mg 100
When Gabapentin Caps 300mg 100 were launched way back in December 2003 prices came down from over £40 to less than £10 in just three years. It could have been this shock to the product price that resulted in a series of four price bounces and shortages or it could’ve been the disruption to reimbursement with the English Drug Tariff going up and down like a yo-yo in the early years. Whether it was both of these causes or just one, the erratic behaviour of the English Drug Tariff would not have helped.
Do Concessions Come in Cycles?
When we look at the graph showing the number of concessions granted each month it does appear to have a series of concession cycles, with the first one starting in 2017, the second in 2022 and the third starting at the end of 2025.
Therefore, we thought we’d compare the three and try to get to grips with why they might be happening.
Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, takes a closer look at the unpredictable pricing and profitability for Trihexyphenidyl Tabs 2mg 84.
Here is a product that the market seems to have abandoned. In February the average market price for this product was £134.69 per pack, the Drug Tariff was £86.80, and it had a concession of £123.63.
Charles Joynson, WaveData MD undertakes some analysis on short dated products.
When a product is in seriously short supply, Pharmacies will get their hands on any stock they can to satisfy their customers. This sometimes means that they have to get short dated stock. If they have no long dated alternative, short dated will have to do. The presence of short dated stock in the market gives us a clue about the availability or shortage of that particular product.
Concessions granted by year and by category
Here at WaveData we keep a close eye on the number of concessions granted to individual products each month and have been doing so since they were launched in November 2010. We have always assumed the Category M is the primary source of concessions and of the linked shortages, but this month Charles Joynson, WaveData MD, has taken a closer look to see if this is correct.
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