The decreasing prices of off-patent antibiotics risk “limiting patient access” to essential medicines in Europe, a recent study has revealed.
Drug company Viatris, which sponsored the independent research, last month (October 14) said that “rising production costs and persistent price decreases” are among the factors driving shortages of key antibiotics.
Read more: DH confirms cancer drug stock secured five months after warning
The study of 16 European countries including the UK - conducted by research agency New Angle - discovered that between 2020 and 2024, the average price of the top 10 most-used off-patent antibiotics fell by 10% despite “sharp increases” in inflation and the cost of production.
It also found that amoxicillin was one of the key antibiotics “most affected by widespread shortages” in mid-2025, having seen a price drop of almost 19% over the same period.
“Extremely low prices have raised concerns about the viability and availability of certain molecules,” the study said.
“Urgent need” for reforms
Viatris said that the issues presented in the study are “driven by national pricing systems” that do not allow manufacturers to increase prices “even when facing steep cost increases”, “further limiting patient access” to essential antibiotics.
The study findings “underscore the urgent need for national price system reforms to protect access to these critical medicines”, it added.
“Without targeted reforms - such as inflation-linked price adjustments, minimum prices or tiered pricing models - patients across Europe risk losing access to these treatments, which would undermine public health and accelerate antimicrobial resistance,” New Angle lead researcher Margarida Bajanca said.
Read more: TB patients to be ‘prioritised’ amid drug shortage
Meanwhile, a UK representative interviewed for the study told researchers that generics are “effectively a free pricing market” and that the “low” prices of off-patent antibiotics in the UK mean the country has a “limited antibiotics portfolio”.
The representative highlighted the “phenomenon” of UK concessionary pricing used by the government when pharmacies struggle to source a drug at or below the original Drug Tariff price.
“This is a reactive price increase mechanism when market prices fall so low that products become unavailable,” they added.
UK “especially exposed”
Medicines UK chief executive Mark Samuels said that the study is “a timely reminder that securing supplies of critical medicines is a matter of resilience, not just cost”.
“The UK is part of a wider European and global supply chain and with the lowest generic prices in Europe, we are especially exposed,” he added.
“More must collectively be done” by the government, the NHS and suppliers, Samuels said - and “pricing, reimbursement and procurement systems must value resilience over cost containment” so that suppliers can “invest in secure supply chains”.
Read more: MHRA approves UK’s ‘first new’ UTI antibiotic in 30 years
It comes as the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) last week revealed that it has secured “additional volumes” of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) medication, almost five months after a high-profile warning about a severe shortage.
The DH’s comment follows the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) telling the government in June that patients were “skipping meals” and “rationing doses” to access PERT medication Creon, which is used to treat pancreatic cancer.
Parliamentary under-secretary for the DH Zubir Ahmed said that the department is “aware of ongoing intermittent supply issues” and “continuously assessing” PERT availability.
Read more: Hospital lead: Give pharmacies ‘more support’ with drug shortages
However, Viatris stressed that there is no connection between UK pricing and Creon supply and that it currently has stock of "all marketed strengths" of the drug and “is receiving a continuous supply” from manufacturer Abbott.
“Distribution of all marketed strengths of Creon from Abbott will continue to be regularly distributed to our wholesale partner and onwards to pharmacies in the UK as shipments arrive,” it said.
