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LONDON - The government is starting work on a programme to allow the pharmaceutical industry to cut the costs of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and make them available faster.

Health Minister Lord Warner said the second phase of the Better Regulation of Over the Counter Medicines Initiative (BROMI) would look at simplifying safety information on packaging.

This would reduce "the burden on industry and allowing regulators to focus on medicine safety", he said.

"The rules governing minor changes to labelling and patient information leaflets can cost individual companies thousands of pounds and these costs are often passed on to the consumer through pricing of OTC medicines," he said.

The first phase of BROMI has already seen measures introduced to allow simple changes to medicines labels and patient information leaflets without "time consuming administrative assessment", the minister said.

"These measures could allow OTC medicines to be maintained at competitive prices and enable industry to invest some savings in continued innovation.

"OTC medicines are crucial to patient care. Over 860 mln packs are purchased every year allowing people to treat common illnesses such as hay fever without having to visit a GP."

Warner said other areas "ripe" for simplification, including certain manufacturing changes, will also be considered.

"Each of these changes will include appropriate safeguards making sure that public safety is not compromised. New ways of regulating OTC medicines can be introduced as these types of medicine contain well-established ingredients whose risks and benefits are recognised." newsdesk@afxnews.com fp/wj

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