The prices pharmacies and dispensing doctors pay for statins in the UK is very variable with prices for packs ranging from £0.01 to £14.64. This means that individual manufacturers and wholesalers adjust their prices to maximise sales and profits by trying to undercut their competitors and increase prices during shortages. This has resulted in each pack having its own ‘home-range’. So Atorvastatin Tabs 20mg 28 are normally between £0.25 and £0.50, Rosuvastatin Tabs 20mg 28 between £0.50 and £1.00, and Pravastatin Tabs 20mg 28 between £1.00 and £2.00.
Simvastatin Tabs 20mg 28 on the other hand has a split ‘home-range’ with one group of prices at between £0.25 and £0.50, a second group between £8.00 and £16.00, and the English drug tariff between the two. This reflects what often happens during a shortage when the remaining freely available stock continues to sell at the low, old price range, and whereas those companies with insufficient stock increase their prices and reserve stock for their most loyal customers.