Britain’s drug wholesalers are threatening to launch a last-ditch legal action this week to block a deal between Alliance Boots and Pfizer that they say will restrict competition in the UK pharmaceutical industry.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugs company, is about to cease all supplies of its medicines to other UK wholesalers after signing an exclusive distribution deal last year with UniChem, the wholesaling arm of Alliance Boots.

Starting next Monday, UniChem will become the sole supplier of all the American company’s drugs, which represent 15 per cent of the total, to every chemist, hospital and dispensing doctor in the UK.

The deal has provoked anger among MPs who are concerned about the impact that limiting the number of UK suppliers of prescription medicines will have on prices and patient safety. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is concerned about the proposal’s impact on competition and is due to announce this week whether it will freeze the arrangements pending a full investigation.

The British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW) last night said that if the OFT fails to act this week, it will bring a legal action to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to prevent Pfizer from stopping deliveries to its members.

Martin Sawer, executive director of the BAPW, said: “We are concerned about the effect these proposals will have on the UK medicines supply chain and on its robustness in times of crisis.”

Last week, John Fingelton, the chief executive of the OFT, told The Times: “We are aware of a lot of public concerns and we are gathering evidence.”

Pfizer claims that the UniChem supply deal will help to prevent counterfeit medicines from entering the UK supply chain.

If it proceeds, the deal looks set to pave the way for a major shake-up in the way prescription medicines reach patients in the UK.

Other drug companies including AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly are thought to be considering similar steps that will give them much tighter control of the supply chain at the expense of pharmaceutical wholesalers.

Pfizer, which is seeking to reduce costs in the face of the expiry of patents on some of its top-selling drugs, has said that it is considering rolling out similar exclusive distribution deals across Europe.

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