Over the past three years, that amounts to 8,000 jobs, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. And the trade group claims there was a direct link between those cuts and changes to the government pricing mechanism for drugs, The Telegraph writes, suggesting the link is a warning that plans to change UK prices are not a good idea.

“Every time a new PPRS (Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme) comes into force there is a decline in the number of jobs. This is a trend that is more significant than in the past,” Richard Barker, ABPI’s general director, tells the paper. However, he stressed that the current round of job cuts, which goes back to before the latest PPRS review was announced, was due to many factors, including education, tax and pricing of drugs.

The key element in the equation seems to be the $22 billion bill the government pays each year for meds, which has prompted an effort to seek a reduction of 10 percent in pricing in the current round of negotiations. Although pharma is bound to oppose price cuts, the paper notes, the industry is just as keen to maintain pricing stability by allowing the current price period to continue until it was due to end in 2010.

The survey by the ABPI covered 15 large, medium and small companies in the sector representing about two-thirds of the industry. Pfizer recently closed a manufacturing plant in Kent, while AstraZeneca and Glaxo have both announced significant global job cuts. A report due to be released today by the CBI and the ABPI is expected to reveal falling confidence among UK drugmakers about the outlook for the industry.