Merck is offering about £48 million (US$74 million) in rebates and discounts to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) on £191 million (US$291.89 million) sales of Remicade.

Two months ago, Napp Pharmaceuticals (Napp), part of Mundipharma’s worldwide network of associated pharmaceutical companies that distributes Celltrion’s infliximab biosimilar Remsima across Europe and the UK [1], complained of slow uptake by the NHS for Remsima. ‘Data shows that uptake in the UK is less than 5% of the original brand,’ the company said in a statement. At the time, Napp’s Director of Market Access, Mr Andrew Roberts, said: ‘The NHS has missed out on significant cost savings over the past six months due to the lack of uptake of biosimilar infliximab; cost savings that are vital when the NHS is seeking over £20 billion [US$30.56 billion] in efficiency savings.’

Merck said in July 2015 that global sales of Remicade had dropped by 25% in the second quarter after biosimilars entered the market in Europe. According to Merck, their latest rebates compare favourably with discounts of between 25% and 30% which they say are being offered by Napp and Hospira on their infliximab biosimilars.

In a subsequent statement issued by Napp, the company said that the level of discounts that competitors have attributed to its products are not correct. A Napp spokesperson said it has offered Remsima to the NHS ‘at discounts of 40‒50% over the list price of Remicade, depending on the price agreed with each tendering region across the UK’. Apparently discounts rise to between 50% and 60% if money returned to the government through the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) is taken into account.

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References
1.  GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Infliximab biosimilar to be distributed by Mundipharma [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2015 Dec 4]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/Biosimilars/News/Infliximab-biosimilar-to-be-distributed-by-Mundipharma

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