D Callcut / Alamy Stock Photo
The number of drug price concessions hit a three-year high in February 2026, in what Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has called a “concerning escalation”.
Price concessions are granted for generic medicines when pharmacists are unable to source them at the price listed in the Drug Tariff. If a price concession is in place, pharmacy contractors are reimbursed at the concessionary price rather than the Drug Tariff’s listed price.
The number reached 174 in February 2026 — the highest since March 2023, when it reached 178.
In response, James Davies, director of research and insights at CPE, told The Pharmaceutical Journal it had been “a very worrying start to 2026”.
“Having received more reports about problems obtaining medicines at appropriate prices than in any month since we started collecting this data in 2019, this is a concerning escalation and reflects the ongoing lack of resilience and challenges in the medicines supply chain,” he said.
Davies added that the medicines supply chain was now “struggling to operate effectively given the UK’s low-price environment”.
“There is a danger that the continued lowering of prices will drive suppliers away from the UK market putting further strain on supply to patients,” he explained.
In January 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency added aspirin to a list of drugs that cannot be hoarded or exported owing to the risk of shortage.
The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) has also expressed concern that the UK was not an attractive market for manufacturers.
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive at the IPA, said: “Generic medicines, which make up the majority of prescriptions, are often sold at unsustainably low prices, some as low as three pence per pack, far below the cost of production.
“This makes the UK market unattractive to manufacturers, who reduce supply or withdraw entirely. The government cannot expect pharmaceutical manufacturers to invest in this country unless they are appropriately incentivised
Hannbeck added that prices can suddenly spike when supply is low, leaving pharmacies out of pocket because the Drug Tariff does not cover these increases.
“Concession pricing sometimes helps, but payments are often delayed by two months, creating cash flow pressures on pharmacies already struggling financially. Pharmacists do everything they can to provide substitutes when medicines are unavailable, but this is becoming increasingly difficult,” she explained.
These pricing issues are placing intense strain on community pharmacies. In November 2025, results from the CPE’s ‘Pharmacy pressures survey’ revealed that one in four pharmacy teams were spending more than two hours a day sourcing alternatives.
Ashley Cohen, a National Pharmacy Association board member, commented: “The fact that we have price concessions for so many products when it used to be only a handful is another indicator of a broken reimbursement system that needs urgent reform.
“This adds to the immense financial pressure on pharmacists, who routinely have to purchase medicines at inflated prices without knowing whether they will be adequately reimbursed.
“Independent pharmacies tend to be worst off from this crazy system, which is unfair and far too complicated. Most independent pharmacies cannot buy bulk stock in advance, so they are particularly vulnerable to price instabilities. Many pharmacies make huge losses supplying NHS medicines, which makes no sense whatsoever and is bound to have a negative impact on patient care.”
The current conflict in the Middle East is adding to medicines supply concerns because pharmaceutical raw materials are becoming harder to source, energy costs have risen and transport delays are mounting.
Davies added: “We continue to watch events in the Middle East closely, as the impact on air and shipping routes will likely affect the availability of some medicines in the coming months.”
In December 2025, health minister Zubir Ahmed insisted that the UK medicines supply situation had improved, telling peers in the House of Lords that the “overall supply of medicines is in a good place”.
