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The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced that the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved Ponvory (ponesimod) for treating adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) within NHS Scotland. Ponesimod offers an additional treatment choice for the ailment, which affects over 15,000 people in Scotland. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which immune cells attack myelin, causing inflammation. The common symptoms of this disease include fatigue, balance and walking problems, numbness or tingling, dizziness and vertigo. Amanda Cunnington, director of Health Economics, Market Access, Reimbursement, Government Affairs & Patient Engagement, Janssen-Cilag Limited said: "This decision further supports our commitment to ensuring patients living with this condition have access to new treatment options to help address some of the life-long and life-limiting symptoms of MS.

The British Generic Medicines Association (BGMA) has called for exemption from the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS), an agreement between the UK Government, NHS England, and the pharmaceutical industry for branded generics and biosimilars. "Due to the rising rate of VPAS on top of existing competition, manufacturers are finding the additional levy economically unviable given their already low prices," the association said. According to research by the Office of Health Economics OHE and Professor Alistair McGuire (LSE) the rising rate of VPAS will force manufacturers pull out of the market which may lead to prices rise due to a lack of competition and critical savings to the NHS will be lost. The new study stated that Government levy on medicines designed to increase access to new treatments and promote affordability could actually be denying the NHS billions of pounds of annual savings due to the impact it is having on branded generics and biosimilars.

Since 1990, Glendale Pharmacy in Wooler, Northumberland, has been under the ownership of Andrew Booth, who recently decided to sell it to pursue a well-earned retirement. According to Christie & Co, the community pharmacy has been acquired by Jagraj Randeva, who owns a small portfolio of pharmacies in Ashington and Newcastle upon Tyne. Jagraj was particularly drawn to this pharmacy because of its advantageous, unchallenged location and its strong historical performance. Located near the Cheviot Hills and 17 miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Glendale Pharmacy dispenses an average of 6,600 items per month. Karl Clezy, Director - Pharmacy at Christie & Co, noted that Glendale Pharmacy has seen an improvement in its trading performance since the start of the marketing process, increasing its prescription numbers and providing more additional/enhanced services.

Britain's competition watchdog has fined pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Flynn £63 million and £6.7 million respectively for allegedly breaking competition law and illegally profiting from the sale of an anti-epilepsy drug. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the two companies colluded to sell phenytoin sodium capsules, previously known as Epanutin, at "unfairly high prices" for over four over years between 2012 and 2016. The annual costs of the capsules for the NHS increased from £2 million in 2012 to approximately £50 million the following year. CMA has accused Pfizer of charging, over four years, prices between 780 per cent and 1,600 per cent higher than what was fixed previously for the medicine used to prevent life-threatening epileptic seizures. Pfizer supplied the drug to Flynn, which then sold the capsules on to wholesalers and pharmacies at a price between 2,300 per cent and 2,600 per cent higher than the prices previously charged by Pfizer.

Lack of appropriate funding is making survival a massive challenge for community pharmacy, a sector relied upon as a vital support system by both primary and secondary care in England. The Telegraph newspaper ran a story on Monday (August 22) which highlighted the dire straits community pharmacy finds itself in. Seasoned pharmacist Ian Strachan told the paper: "Our four pharmacies were the only point of call that was open (during Covid). We were there every single day, even when the virus was prevalent and people were dying." Describing the current situation, he said: "What is happening is we're facing a system that's just not working at all in our favour." Strachan says the issue is that pharmacists are "just not getting the help we need to be able to do this job properly". The sector is hugely dependent on funding from the NHS. The government had agreed in 2019 to set £2.6bn as annual funding for the sector. However, according to a report from EY that amount was already down £200m on the 2016 levels of government funding. "We've been starved of appropriate funding since 2016," Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies told The Telegraph. "It looks grim for businesses. The fees pharmacists get are going nowhere, but now, there's higher utility bills, higher staff fees and higher drug costs."