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.
The more ‘normal’ price between periods of shortage has been below £5 per pack. On the graph we’ve zeroed in on the lower end of the price scale, looking specifically at those prices below £25. It does appear to us that up until about 2016 the Drug Tariff was generally higher than the market price. Post 2016 it was a real struggle for Pharmacist to make any money out of this product at all.
There seem to have been three periods of shortage, the first in 2008/9, the second in 2019 and the third today. From this we can assume that Trihexyphenidyl Tabs have always been a problem product, more recently probably due to profitability, but in the 2008/9 profitability does not seem to have been the issue. Perhaps there are underlying manufacturing challenges.
As well as the three periods of shortage and price hikes there was also a period of instability in pricing in 2015. This suggests that there are reasonably regular 5 year gaps between price hikes, which may tie in with manufacturing cycles.
The super high current prices may tempt manufacturers back into the market for this particular product, but relying on concessions to keep Pharmacies paying is like playing roulette. You cannot predict concessions, and for this product you cannot predict the market or profitability either.