Masters International is pleased to announce that the UK office has been awarded the ISO 9001: 2000 certification.

With the Downturn in the world economy already putting the pharmaceutical industry under pressure, an increasingly small number of novel products are coming to market. The innovation capacity of the pharmaceutical industry is determined, to a great extent, by the external environment. Consequently, pharmaceutical innovation is likely to suffer, partly due to increasing government barriers precluding access to reimbursement lists. Furthermore, as governments push for greater use of generic drugs, the pressure on big pharmaceutical companies and their ability to be innovative will increase.

Cost-effectiveness and safety of a product are at the top of the agenda for payers. Global healthcare costs are rising due to ageing populations and poor lifestyle choices - particularly in western markets. Consequently, governments and payers across the seven major markets are implementing numerous healthcare cost-containment policies.

The US system of funding healthcare, which is generally seen as spending lavishly by international standards, has also become more cost conscious due to rising healthcare costs, which in turn are driving up insurance premiums. Insurance firms are beginning to seek better deals on prescription drugs from pharmaceutical companies in order to avoid raising insurance premiums further in a country that is in an economic recession.

For those patients in the US that do not have the means to afford medical insurance, a pilot scheme (introduced by the FDA in 1988) exists, whereby patients can order up to three months supply of medication by providing a registered pharmaceutical supplier with a valid prescription. More details of the service that Masters provides can be found in the ‘Customer’ page of our website.

Brand protection firm MarkMonitor has released its latest "Brandjacking Index," a study that tracks the online presence of six major drugs to determine if the products are being sold by unreputable pharmacies, used in unsolicited spam e-mail, or being counterfeited outright.

The results show that in June 2008, more than 20,000 websites abused drug trademarks. Included in the figures were 2,986 suspicious online pharmacies delivering 60 million spam e-mail. Although the six drugs have not named, they are thought to include a lifestyle drug, a sleep aid, anti-cholesterol, and an ulcer medication.

The biggest increase, year on year, is an 87 percent boost in offensive content on sites that are marketing pharmaceuticals. More concerning is a 66 percent spike in e-commerce sites marketing pharmaceuticals, which jumped from 3,052 in the second-quarter of 2007 to 5,070 in the same period this year.

While the number of bogus online pharmacies is growing, so is the traffic at the sites and the deep discounts being offered. It was also noted that these sites are engaging in paid advertisement to draw consumers.

Masters is recognized as a registered pharmacy with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and by the Florida State Department of Health.

Masters has been registered on the accredited pharmacy list by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB). The voluntary scheme has been set up to ensure that the public can easily distinguish a safe and legitimate website to buy from.

The accompanying logo displays the pharmacy's individual registration number. When the logo is clicked on, it directs the user to the RPSGB website, confirming the pharmacy's registration details.

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