Pharmacists must take a stand against exclusive medicines distribution deals to prevent manufacturers from supplying patients directly, PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe has warned.

Exclusive distribution arrangements had reached a "tipping point" at which they were in danger of corrupting the entire supply chain and bypassing pharmacists altogether, Ms Sharpe told the Avicenna conference on Sunday (October 20).

Ms Sharpe said that now was the time to take evidence against exclusive distribution deals to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which originally voiced fears over direct-to-pharmacy schemes in 2007 after Pfizer pioneered the model. The deals were not only limiting supply, but also forcing contractors to pay costly low threshold surcharges, she said.

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	Ms Sharpe expressed concern that the situation could escalate if the practice was not controlled. "The introduction of the electronic prescription service and internet pharmacies potentially allows manufacturers to go for a direct-to-patient model," she said. "I don't think we have the legal structures to limit that and we know they want to do that, so there are a lot of threats there.

"If we can provide evidence on how [exclusive supply deals] are disadvantaging the independent market, then I think we've got a good basis for a formal OFT investigation." Ms Sharpe pledged to work together with Avicenna to gather evidence.

But David Reissner, head of healthcare at legal firm Charles Russell, said there was a slim chance of action being taken. The Labour government had ignored OFT recommendations to impose conditions on direct-to-pharmacy schemes in 2007, he said, and the coalition was unlikely to take a different view.

"As we have seen from the energy price controversy, the current government probably would not want to get involved in fixing prices," Mr Reissner told C+D. "That leaves the question of whether the OFT would take legal action."

"Whatever the rights and wrongs of distribution arrangements, it all seems a bit late in the day," he added.

The OFT originally warned that direct-to-pharmacy schemes could cost the NHS "hundreds of millions of pounds" in 2007, and recommended formalising manufacturer discounts to avoid prices being inflated.

This week, the OFT told C+D it had cases underway in this area, but said it could not comment any further. In April, it launched an investigation into a suspected breach of competition law in supply of medicines, which is yet to be concluded.

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