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Company Chemists' Association chief executive Malcolm Harrison has criticised the government’s response to the Lords Public Services Committee report on medicines security, saying it does not address how to build longer term resilience in the supply chain, to prevent shortages in the first place. 

“It is clear that there is a considerable amount of work underway that is intended to ensure the supply of medicines in the UK. Unfortunately, the response fails to address the main challenge facing the supply of over 1 billion NHS prescribed medicines in primary care,” says Mr Harrison, who gave evidence to the inquiry into medicines security in November 2025..

“The response does provide some solutions for dealing with shortages in primary care once they have occurred, however, it does not address how to build longer term resilience in the supply chain, to prevent shortages in the first place.”

He called out the low prices the government sets for generic medicines, which means many pharmacies are now supplying NHS prescriptions at a loss. “Over 1,500 pharmacy closures in the past decade stand as testimony to this uncomfortable truth,” he said.

The CCA hosted a parliamentary reception on behalf of the Medicines Supply Resilience Group (MSRG) on 14 April, attended by the Dr Zubir Ahmed, the minister for health innovation and Safety.

The reception saw the launch of an animation on the supply chain explaining the challenges it is under, along with Mapping a complex global supply chain – a report setting out the various stages of the supply chain, and challenges that may arise.

“As our supply chain resilience reception in Parliament this week highlighted, the UK is seen globally as an unattractive market for manufacturers to sell medicines into,” said Mr Harrison.

“To ensure the security of medicines supply in the UK the government must make additional and sustained investment across the whole of the UK’s medicines supply chain. This includes funding to stabilise the community pharmacy network and investment in generic medicines pricing”.