This product has seen its market price decay from around £13.00 in 2017 – 2020 to a low of £4.29 in September 2024. This may have pushed this combined product, complicated to make due to its combined and device characteristics, into unprofitability as it has been granted concessions in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The first concession was granted in July 2022 when the average market price was £6.06, so the breakeven point for manufactures may be around £6.00.
From the graph we can see that the reimbursement price left very little room for profit after January 2022, so manufacturers will have been having serious doubts about the future of this product from that moment. The switch from category M to A, and an increase in reimbursement in January 2025 may trigger more discussion, but it will take time for profitability to be proved and confidence restored.
Giving concessions to pharmacies isn’t a zero cost strategy, and nor is dealing with three years of shortages. If confidence can be restored, long term supply will gradually improve.
All data is from WaveData’s long term market pricing service the British Pharma Pricing Index (BPPI)