Pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom
The pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom directly employs around 72,000 people and in 2007 contributed £8.4 billion to the UK's GDP and invested a total of £3.9 billion in research and development.[1][2] In 2007 exports of pharmaceutical products from the UK totalled £14.6 billion, creating a trade surplus in pharmaceutical products of £4.3 billion.[3]
The UK is home to GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively the world's fifth- and sixth-largest pharmaceutical companies measured by 2009 market share.[4] Foreign companies with a major presence in the UK pharmaceutical industry include Pfizer, Novartis,[5] Hoffmann–La Roche and Eisai. One in five of the world's biggest-selling prescription drugs were developed in the UK.[6]
History
19th century
In 1842 Thomas Beecham established the Beecham's Pills laxative business, which would later become the Beecham Group.[7] By 1851 UK-based patent medicine companies had combined domestic revenues of around £250,000.[8] Beecham opened Britain's first modern drugs factory in St Helens in 1859.[7] Henry Wellcome and Silas Burroughs formed a partnership in September 1880, and established an office in Snow Hill in Central London.[9] The London Wholesale Drug and Chemical Protection Society was formed in 1867, which became the Drug Club in 1891, the forerunner of the present-day Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.[8] In 1883 Burroughs Wellcome & Co. opened their first factory, at Bell Lane Wharf in Wandsworth, utilising compressed medicine tablet-making machinery acquired from Wyeth of the United States.[9] Burroughs Wellcome & Co. established its first overseas branch in Sydney in 1898.[9]
20th century
The Glaxo department of Joseph Nathan and Co was established in London in 1908.[10] Glaxo Laboratories Ltd absorbed Joseph Nathan and Co in 1947 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in the same year.[10] In order to satisfy regulations then in place in the UK on the importation of medicines, Pfizer established a compounding operation in Folkestone, Kent in Autumn 1952.[11] Pfizer acquired an 80-acre site on the outskirts of Sandwich in 1954 to enable the expansion of its Kent-based activities.[11] Glaxo acquired Allen and Hanburys Ltd. in 1958.[10] In 1981 the bacterial infection treatment Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate potassium) was launched by Beecham; the anti-ulcer treatment Zantac (ranitidine) was launched by Glaxo; and the antiviral herpes treatment Zovirax (aciclovir) was launched by Wellcome.[10]
In 1991 SmithKline Beecham launched Seroxat/Paxil (paroxetine hydrochloride).[10] In June 1993 Imperial Chemical Industries demerged its pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals businesses, forming Zeneca Group plc.[12] In 1995 Glaxo opened a major research and development facility in Stevenage, constructed at a cost of £700 million.[13] In March 1995 the £9 billion acquisition of Wellcome by Glaxo was completed, forming Glaxo Wellcome, in what was the largest merger in UK corporate history to date.[14] BASF completed the acquisition of the pharmaceutical division of The Boots Company in April 1995.[15] In 1997 SmithKline Beecham opened a major new research centre at New Frontiers Science Park in Harlow, Essex.[10] In 1999 Zeneca Group plc and Sweden-based Astra AB merged to form AstraZeneca plc.[16] Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham announced their intention to merge in January 2000, with the merger completing in December of that year, forming GlaxoSmithKline plc.[17]
21st century
In February 2001 the Novartis Respiratory Research Centre, the largest single-site respiratory research centre in the world, opened in Horsham.[18] In May 2006 AstraZeneca agreed to buy Cambridge Antibody Technology, then the largest UK-based biotechnology company, for £702 million.[19][20] In April 2007 AstraZeneca agreed to acquire the U.S.-based biotechnology company MedImmune for $15.6 billion.[21] In April 2009 GlaxoSmithKline agreed to acquire Stiefel Laboratories, then the world's largest independent dermatology company, for US$3.6 billion.[22] In June 2009 Eisai opened a major new research and development and manufacturing facility in Hatfield, constructed at a cost of over £100 million.[23][24][25] In November 2009 GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer combined their respective AIDS divisions into one London-based company, ViiV Healthcare.[26] On 1 February 2011 Pfizer announced that it would be closing its entire research and development facility at Sandwich, Kent within 18–24 months with the loss of 2,400 jobs, as part of a company-wide plan to reduce its spending on research and development.[27][28][29]
In March 2013 AstraZeneca announced plans for a major corporate restructuring, including the closure of its research and development activities at Alderley Park, investment of $500 million in the construction of a new research and development facility in Cambridge, and the move of its corporate headquarters from London to Cambridge in 2016.[30][31]
The amount of funding received by UK life science companies reached a 10-year high in 2014.[32][33]
Research and development
In 2007 the UK had the third-highest share of global pharmaceutical R&D expenditure of any nation, with 9% of the total, behind the United States (49%) and Japan (15%).[34][35] The UK has the largest pharmaceutical R&D expenditure of any European nation, accounting for 23% of the total; followed by France (20%), Germany (19%), and Switzerland (11%).[34]
Companya | R&D spendingb (£m) | |
1 | GlaxoSmithKline | 3,629.00 |
2 | AstraZeneca | 2,745.68 |
3 | Shire | 346.71 |
4 | Pfizer UK | 325.66 |
5 | Roche Products | 208.44 |
6 | Eisai Europe | 151.13 |
7 | Brinton Healthcare UK Ltd | 140.13 |
8 | Eli Lilly and Company | 130.21 |
9 | Amgen | 127.06 |
10 | Merial | 102.42 |
11 | Novartis Pharmaceuticals | 90.27 |
12 | John Wyeth & Brother | 60.33 |
13 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | 55.49 |
14 | Janssen-Cilag | 54.37 |
15 | PowderMed | 45.57 |
16 | Aventis Pharma | 44.92 |
17 | Allergan | 37.40 |
18 | Organon Laboratories | 36.78 |
19 | Vectura | 36.40 |
20 | Antisoma | 35.77 |
21 | Boehringer Ingelheim | 29.29 |
22 | Genus | 28.60 |
23 | BTG | 27.00 |
24 | Servier R&D | 25.10 |
25 | Ipsen Developments | 23.97 |
26 | Renovo | 18.07 |
Notes:
a Italicised company name: ultimate parent is not UK-based
b Where parent company is UK-based: worldwide R&D spending; other companies: R&D spending in UK only
Regulation
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2011) |
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe.[37]
See also
- Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
- Bad Pharma (2012) by Ben Goldacre
- List of pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United Kingdom
- List of pharmacy organizations in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "Did you know?: Facts and figures about the pharmaceutical industry in the UK - Second edition 2011" (PDF). The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Gordon Brown plans tonic for pharmaceutical industry". The Times. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ "Facts & Statistics from the pharmaceutical industry". The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ "Top world pharmaceutical corporations". The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Facts and Figures". Novartis UK. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ "British regulator calls for drug pricing overhaul". International Herald Tribune. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ a b "Drug giants in their own right". BBC News. 24 February 1998. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ a b Lesley Richmond; Julie Stevenson; Alison Turton (2003), The pharmaceutical industry: a guide to historical records, London, UK: Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 9780754633525, retrieved 25 May 2011
- ^ a b c "The birth and growth of Burroughs Wellcome & Co". Wellcome Trust. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "Our history". GlaxoSmithKline plc. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Pfizer's history 1949-55". Pfizer UK. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^ "Merger partners in brief". AstraZeneca plc. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Ministers fear Glaxo merger could damage drug industry". The Independent. 9 February 1998. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Profile: Glaxo Wellcome". BBC News. 17 January 2000. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Lawsuit Says Companies Suppressed Drug Study". The New York Times. 19 May 1997. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "History". AstraZeneca plc. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Pharmaceutical giants Glaxo and SmithKline finally merge". Reuters. 27 December 2000. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Novartis opens the world's largest centre for respiratory research in Horsham, UK". Chem Europe. 28 February 2001. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "AstraZeneca pays high price to fill drugs chest with £700m CAT deal". The Independent. 16 May 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "AstraZeneca agrees £702m Cambridge deal". The Times. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "AstraZeneca agrees to buy MedImmune". Reuters. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "GlaxoSmithKline buys Stiefel for $3.6bn". The Telegraph. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Work starts on £100m drug firm HQ". BBC News. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Author backing Alzheimer's research". St Albans & Harpenden Review. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "European Knowledge Centre". Eisai Co., Ltd. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "AIDS Divisions of 2 Large Drug Makers Form Company to Focus on the Disease". The New York Times. 9 November 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Drug giant Pfizer to pull out of Kent". Kent Online. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Pfizer to shut major Sandwich site, home of Viagra". Reuters. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "Thousands of jobs to go as Pfizer looks to slash R&D spend". Nature. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "AstraZeneca to axe 1,600 jobs in overhaul of drug R&D". Reuters. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ "AstraZeneca cuts UK headcount and moves to Cambridge". Times Higher Education. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ "The UK is finally catching up with US in biotech investment - venture capital funding more than doubled last year". CityAM. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
Big push for London
- ^ "A 10 Year Horizon – 2014 and 2015 Setting New Records in UK Biotech Financing via Capital Markets and Venture Capital". Evaluate and BIA. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ^ a b "The Pharmaceutical sector in the UK". Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Ministerial Industry Strategy Group - Pharmaceutical Industry: Competitiveness and Performance Indicators" (PDF). Department of Health. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "The Top 1,000 UK and 1,000 Global Companies by R&D Investment" (PDF). Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ "The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry - Fourth Report of Session 2004–05" (PDF). United Kingdom Parliament. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
Further reading
- A. Duckworth, 'Rise of the pharmaceutical industry', Chemist and Druggist, 172, 1959, pp 127–39
- C. A. Hill, 'The changing foundations of pharmaceutical manufacturing', Pharmaceutical Journal, 134, 1935, pp 533–5
- J. Liebenau, 'The rise of the British pharmaceutical industry', British Medical Journal, 301, 1990, pp 724–33
- C. J. Thomas, 'The pharmaceutical industry', in D. Burn (ed) The Structure of British Industry - Volume II (Cambridge University Press, 1958), pp 331–75
- Cope, Zachary (5 February 1955). "Allen and Hanburys, 1715–1954". British Medical Journal. 1 (4909): 337. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4909.337-b. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 2060881.