Nice-approved medicines are not reaching patients because of a relationship breakdown, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has warned.

Speaking at the ABPI annual conference on Thursday (November 9), chief executive Stephen Whitehead claimed the NHS was failing to buy the newest and most innovative medicines and pharmaceutical companies are no longer being rewarded sufficiently for the risks they take in discovering new medicines. Mr Whitehead argued that this was detrimental to patient health and the long-term viability of the pharmaceutical industry.

"Medicines underpin a successful, sustainable NHS and have made many diseases easy and cheap to treat," Mr Whitehead told the conference.

"Medicines underpin a successful, sustainable NHS and have made many diseases easy and cheap to treat" Stephen Whitehead, ABPI

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NICE-approved medicines were "not reaching patients despite proof of value and guarantees under the NHS constitution", he warned, leading to a decline in research and development within the pharmaceutical industry. This was resulting in the vital UK life sciences sector suffering because "research and development has declined from 6 per cent of trials to 1.2 per cent and it no longer supports as many jobs it did just a few years ago", Mr Whitehead said.

He added that the pharmaceutical industry was at a "crossroads" and questioning its future role. He called for a "realignment" of investment towards modern medicines and away from "expensive and unproductive infrastructure".

"The pharmaceutical industry has long recognised its social contract with the NHS," he said. "This contract has broken down, new medicines are not being adopted despite stringent assessments of value and patients are not getting the best treatments.

"Together, we need to find a model that stimulates research and development, motivates the NHS to adopt innovative medicines and encourage further discoveries in our battle against disease."

Mr Whitehead added: "In the UK, the NHS is tied to maintaining unneeded hospitals when care is best provided using modern medicines and community services at home. A modern healthcare system should be based on patient need and utilising modern medicines, not on maintaining expensive and unproductive infrastructure."