[How physiochemical factor affects biological performance of a drug, to suggest how these factors might influence and determine the development on a new drug]

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Abstract

This paper looks to answer the question How physiochemical factor affects biological performance of a drug, to suggest how these factors might influence and determine the development on a new drug In 1948, the United Kingdom established a pioneering universal healthcare system: the National Health Service (NHS). In the visionary words of its founders, the NHS was intended to offer all UK citizens comprehensive medical care “from the cradle to the grave.” The original concept was based on the principle that all healthcare provision -prescription medicines, primary care, dental and ophthalmic treatment, and hospitaliza-tion - should be free at the point of delivery. However, inexorably rising costs necessitated the progressive imposition of a range of patient copayments. In the 1960s, for example, the government introduced prescription charges in a bid to restrain the growth in NHS physicochemical expenditures. The United Kingdom is the world's fifth-largest market for prescription drugs and, thanks to a relatively liberal regulatory environment, one of the most accessible of all European markets in terms of product registration, price setting, and reimbursement. Physicochemical prices are higher in the UK market than in most other European countries. However, tough supply- and demand-side restrictions, together with a flourishing generics market, severely limit the uptake of innovative new drugs. The United Kingdom therefore remains one of the most conservative physicochemical markets in Europe.

Introduction

In 1948, the NHS had a budget of £437 million ($714 million) - equivalent to approximately £9 billion ($14.7 billion) in current terms. (For the sake of uniformity of the analysis, the dollar-to-pound-sterling exchange rate used in this report is the 2003 average rate: $1 = £0.61229.) By the 2001-2 financial year, NHS spending had increased to £59.6 billion ($97.3 billion). According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in 2002 (the most recent year for which data are available), the United Kingdom spent 7.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare - less than the European Union (EU) mean of 8.5% and substantially less than Germany's 10.9% and France's 9.7%. However, the Labor government elected in May 1997 has pledged to increase investment to at least the EU  average (as a share of GDP). In April 2002, it announced plans to increase investment in the NHS from £65 billion ($106 billion) in the 2002-3 financial year to £105 billion ($171 billion) in the 2007-8 financial year -an increase of almost 62% in five years. However, the physicochemical industry will receive only a modest share of this increased spending.

The NHS is the dominant source of healthcare financing and provision in the United Kingdom. Direct taxation generates 86% of NHS finances, employee contributions through a payroll-levied national insurance scheme provide 12% of the budget, and patient copayments account for just 2% of funding.

Research Aims

All registered medicines marketed in the United Kingdom are assigned to one of the following three classes:

Prescription-only medicines (POM) require a ...