A leading pharmaceutical trade organization in the United Kingdom is sounding the alarm about potential medicine shortages if Middle East conflicts continue to disrupt global supply chains.
Medicines UK, which represents companies responsible for 85% of NHS prescriptions, reports that while Britain has managed to avoid drug shortages up to this point, escalating shipping expenses are putting severe financial strain on generic medication producers.
Mark Samuels, the organization’s Chief Executive, described Britain as being “one step away” from experiencing medicine shortages should regional instability continue, noting that current stockpiles only offer temporary protection.
According to Samuels, manufacturers of low-cost generic medications are already feeling the impact of increased transportation expenses and shipping delays. These companies may soon reach their limit for absorbing additional costs.
“If the conflict continues for the longer term, then I think manufacturers will cease being able to absorb the costs, and then we’ll either have some price rises for the NHS or we’ll have a failure to supply. Probably a mixture of both,” Samuels explained during a Thursday interview with Reuters.
The executive emphasized that off-patent medications face particular vulnerability compared to patented drugs, as their narrow profit margins provide minimal flexibility for handling increased freight expenses. With approximately 55% of generic drugs in Britain costing less than 1 British pound ($1.34) for a month’s treatment, transportation represents a substantial portion of total costs, raising concerns that some products could become unprofitable.
Previous reporting has indicated that the ongoing conflict is already affecting the flow of essential medications to Gulf regions, threatening supply chains for cancer treatments and other medications requiring temperature-controlled transport as companies seek alternative shipping routes.
Samuels noted that biosimilar medications face greater risk than standard oral medications due to their longer production timelines and more complicated manufacturing processes.
