Over The Counter Special: Unlocking Switch-Driven Growth, With PAGB’s Michelle Riddalls

The UK’s consumer healthcare industry association, PAGB is publishing a series of blog posts for Self-Care Week – an annual awareness campaign in the UK organized by the Self Care Forum, held this year from 17-23 November. In this special episode of HBW Insight’s Over the Counter podcast, we catch up with the association’s CEO Michelle Riddalls, to talk about what the association is doing to promote Rx-to-OTC switch in the UK. According to Riddalls, two-thirds of PAGB members see reclassification as a key pillar of growth in the next 10-15 years. The UK government has also announced it wants to see switch applications for 16 medical conditions and categories, including sleep, pain, allergy and women's intimate health. Through initiatives like the Reclassification Alliance, PAGB is working hard to unlock this significant growth opportunity for the UK consumer health industry, Riddalls explains. Timestamps 3:00 – Introductions 4:00 – PAGB and Self-Care Week 5:30 – How PAGB is helping to enable Rx-to-OTC switch 8:00 – The benefits of switching for the consumer health industry 11:00 – Riddalls’ switch experience 15:00 – UK government’s switch agenda 18:00 – Switch barriers 22:00 – Thinking outside the box Guest Bio Michelle Riddalls OBE is chief executive officer of PAGB, the consumer healthcare association, which represents the manufacturers of branded OTC medicines, self-care medical devices and food supplements in the UK. Prior to joining PAGB, Riddalls was director of regulatory affairs for the Northern European Cluster at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, where she was integral in the highly successful POM to GSL reclassification of Nexium Control and the Viagra Connect POM to P switch. Michelle has been recognized across a number of industry awards, including the Women in Trade Powerlist in 2024, and was awarded an OBE for outstanding services to consumer health in the King’s 2025 New Year Honours.

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