§ Sir Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if the recent reductions in return on investment guidelines discriminate against pharmaceutical companies with higher capital investment and research activity in the United Kingdom;
(2) what account he took of the differing levels of (a) capital investment and (b) research activity by pharmaceutical companies when deciding on the level of price reductions to impose under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWhile it is true that generally the profit targets of such companies have been reduced by the greatest amount, they remain higher than those of companies with little capital investment or research activity in the United Kingdom. The lower overall profit target for the pharmaceutical industry under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme inevitably led to some compression of the range of individual company targets.