Catalogue description Committee of Inquiry into the Pharmaceutical Industry (Sainsbury Committee): Minutes, Papers and Reports

The Committee of Inquiry into the Pharmaceutical Industry was appointed by the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland in May 1965, under the Chairmanship of Lord Sainsbury. Its terms of reference were as follows:- "To examine the relationship of the pharmaceutical industry in Great Britain with the National Health Service having regard to the structure of the industry, to the commercial policies of the firms comprising it, to pricing and sales promotion practices, to the effects of patents and to the relevance and value of research; and to make recommendations".

The procedure adopted by the Committee included publicity notices in the Press which invited submission of written evidence, and writing to organisations most likely to be concerned with the subject matter of the enquiry, inviting them to submit memoranda of evidence; oral evidence was also taken. Financial information from the industry was gathered by questionnaire as also was information on patents, trade marks and licences. An enquiry was conducted for the Committee by the Government Social Survey involving a number of doctors. Visits were made to factories and research establishments in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States.

The report was presented to Parliament in September 1967 and was arranged in five parts: a Summary of Recommendations, The Issues, the Industry and the Health Departments, The Profitability and Operations of the Firms in the Industry; and Proposals. The Recommendations fall under the heading of Future Pricing Arrangements; Patents and Brand Names; The Medicines Commission; and Planning.