NHS paying ‘less than a Mars bar’ for antibiotics is ‘offensive’, says pharma chief

The NHS pays less for a packet of antibiotics than it would for a Mars bar and it is ‘offensive’, a pharmaceutical industry leader has said.

Chief executive of drug manufacturer Sandoz, Richard Saynor, felt the UK government was unwilling to invest in critical medicines like antibiotics and that medicine supply would suffer as a result.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, he said: ‘We are the only remaining antibiotic manufacturer left in the Western world, and we have better traction with the US administration and some African governments when it comes to protecting valuable assets.

‘A lot of governments just see the price of things. A pack of antibiotics sold to the NHS for less than a Mars bar – I find that offensive.’

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The average Mars bar is priced at 85p to £1.20 while, according to the British National Formulary, a pack of 21 Amoxicillin 250mg capsules costs the NHS 97p, a pack of 10 Ciprofloxacin 250mg tablets costs 64p, and the price for 28 Doxycycline 50mg tablets is set at £1.59.

Mr Saynor added that the rising cost of aviation fuel and shipping cartons will mean a cost increase for the NHS, and it is vital that the UK government works with pharmaceutical companies to protect the supply of essential medicines.

He said: ‘Pretty much the only other suppliers of antibiotics are in China. Does [the UK] really want to be in a situation where all its antibiotics are coming from Asian suppliers, and it has no control over some of the most critical medicines in our supply chain?

‘Imagine a world without penicillin. There would be no operations. A minor infection would kill you. These medicines save more lives than any other medicine invented by mankind, yet governments aren’t prepared to support us – it can be frustrating.’

He also criticised the government’s Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAG), which is a pricing scheme for branded medicines that sets an annual cap on how much the NHS can increase its spending on branded medicines.

When spending exceeds this cap, pharmaceutical companies must pay rebates to the government – essentially returning excess revenues above the agreed threshold.

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These rebate rates were initially forecast at around 15% but rose to 22.9% in 2025 as NHS spending on branded medicines grew from £6.9bn to £8.4bn.

The 2026 payment rate for new medicines under the VPAG scheme will be 14.5% and the UK-US trade agreement, announced in December, included a commitment to ensure that the VPAG payment rate would not exceed 15% for the next three years.

Mr Saynor said: ‘We save the NHS tens of billions of pounds every year with biologic medicines – these are complicated medicines for cancer and arthritis and immunology diseases. We sell these at very low prices to the NHS, yet the government wants to tax us additionally.

‘When we're constrained on supply, it's always the UK that is the first to suffer because it's the least attractive market.’

He admitted that things were starting to change, with the government’s recent commitment to double spending on innovative medicines from 0.3% of GDP to 0.6% of GDP by 2036. But he also questioned where the funding for this would come from.

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‘The way the government can afford [to double spending on innovative medicines] is by using more generics and biosimilars at a lower price. But I haven’t seen any details about how this government is going to do that while ensuring generic medicine supply for the vast majority of patients,’ he said.

The Department for Health and Social Care have been contacted for comment.