About the APG

Welcome to the website of the American Pharmaceutical Group (APG), the organisation that represents the nine leading US-owned pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK.

Together we form the largest national grouping within the UK-based pharmaceutical industry, making a significant contribution not only to the health of the nation, but also to the wider economy in terms of investment in drug development, clinical research and manufacturing.

A key focus for the APG is working to create a better understanding of the role and value of the pharmaceutical industry, and in particular the key part played by US companies, who account for more than half the world's expenditure on new drug development.

Drawing on the experience of our parent companies whose global operations are based in the US, the most competitive and demanding healthcare system in the world, the APG is also working to ensure the UK retains its position as an attractive environment for US pharmaceutical companies to invest in. US pharmaceutical companies form one of the largest groups of overseas investors in the UK with billions of pounds invested in research, manufacturing and distribution facilities.

Central to this is our emphasis on the role of medicines in improving health and wellbeing, the need for better patient access to innovative, new medicines, and the benefits that such medicines can bring to patients, the NHS, and society as a whole. The APG believes that the pharmaceutical industry has a key role to play in helping the NHS address health inequalities and in ensuring that healthcare standards in the UK match or exceed those of the best EU countries and the US.

Another important aspect of our agenda is championing the need for patients to have improved access to balanced, factual information about medicines, enabling them to make informed choices, and take greater control of their treatment and illness.

The APG is also committed to supporting global and local initiatives to advance the healthcare and wellbeing of the world's neediest people. In particular, we recognise that the pharmaceutical industry has an important role to play in working with governments, NGOs and other bodies to find shared solutions to the health challenges faced by developing countries.

The APG is also committed to the health of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, to a competitive economy that stimulates innovation and, most importantly, to the health of people living in the UK.

The APG Goals include:

•    Helping to ensure that patients are better informed about and receive the best medicines, and assisting the uptake of effective new medicines.

•    Ensuring that new measures do not limit market access

•    Making recommendations to the Government on attracting and maintaining inward investment from APG companies through a commitment to a competitive environment for innovation

•    Ensuring pricing policies in the UK do not negatively impact other international markets

•    Encouraging access to medicines in developing countries by working in partnership with Government to promote a comprehensive approach, recognising the need for the right infrastructure as well as the affordability of essential medicines

•    Working with policymakers in considering current and future changes to the UK healthcare system, and to see where the UK can learn from the U.S. and other countries