The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, ABPI, has used its 2026 competitiveness report to argue that the UK remains a relatively weak market for access to and uptake of innovative medicines, despite recent policy changes intended to improve both.
ABPI reports that 33% of new medicines authorised in 2021–24 were fully available in England for their licensed use, compared with 93% in Germany and 73% in Italy. It also reports relatively low uptake after national HTA recommendation. For a common cohort of medicines, median third-year use in the UK was 2.3 population-adjusted days of therapy per person, compared with 5.5 in Germany and 4.7 in Italy.
The figures support ABPI's wider argument that improving appraisal speed alone will not close the access gap. The report points to restrictions within positive recommendations, local adoption and implementation, and slower subsequent use as separate barriers between authorisation and routine treatment.
The headline availability figure nevertheless needs to be read carefully. ABPI draws this measure from EFPIA's Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator, which counts a medicine as fully available only when reimbursement covers its complete licensed indication. A further 27% of medicines were available in England with restrictions. Other UK benchmarks use broader definitions that include optimised NICE recommendations, and consequently report higher availability.
The uptake analysis also uses a selected common cohort and population-adjusted use rather than measuring whether every eligible patient receives treatment. The report therefore gives a strong comparative signal rather than a single definitive measure of access. Its central message is nevertheless consistent across both measures: UK performance weakens not only at reimbursement, but also in translating positive decisions into routine use.
Source: Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
Link: UK pharmaceutical investment competitiveness report 2026: Green shoots, global competition, and the case for delivery
Date: 10 September 2026
Source: European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations
Link: EFPIA Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator 2025
Date: 19 May 2026
Source: Office for Life Sciences
Link: Life sciences competitiveness indicators 2026: summary
Date: 19 March 2026
