Medicine makers cash in as wave of cold and flu sweeps country

High demand for cold and flu medicines is boosting sales at consumer healthcare giants.

Sales of over-the-counter medicines are surging at firms including Haleon and Reckitt Benckiser as the country is gripped by winter illness.

Demand for some medicines is so high that pharmacies are facing supply shortages.

‘We’ve seen a strong and prolonged cold and flu season this year,’ said Tobias Hestler, finance chief of Haleon, which spun out of pharmaceuticals group GSK last year and produces cold relief medicine Theraflu and nasal decongestants Otrivin and Contac. 

Reckitt, which makes Lemsip, Mucinex and Strepsils, has also seen booming demand. 

Ryan Dullea, head of its over-the-counter business, said the pandemic had made ‘consumers more conscious of germs and illness’. 

More than 3,700 patients per day were admitted to hospital with flu in the last week of December – an increase of almost 80 per cent in seven days. 

Medical experts say more social mixing has triggered a rebound in flu viruses after the brief hiatus caused by pandemic-era restrictions.

Increasing cases of Covid-19, which has flu-like symptoms, are also boosting demand for over-the-counter cures.

More than 36,000 people in the UK tested positive for Covid-19 in the week before Christmas. 

Vaccinations have made symptoms milder and households are turning to traditional cold and flu medicines to tackle it.