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<p>The cost of branded medicines to the National Health Service is controlled by the
voluntary pharmaceutical price regulation scheme or the statutory medicines price
regulation scheme. Often when patents expire, generic versions enter the market and,
as a result of competition, prices often go down.</p><p> </p><p>In primary care, the
community pharmacy contractual framework provides an incentive for pharmacies to get
the best medicines prices; in secondary care, a system of central tenders delivers
similar levels of savings. In general, the system works well – the United Kingdom
has the lowest generic prices across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development.</p>
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