UK, pharma industry pilot rapid access routes for medicines

A series of pilot schemes set up by the UK in partnership with the pharma industry will test ways to get new medicines to patients more quickly.

The pilots – part of the implementation process for the UK-US pharma trade deal announced last December – have been developed through a joint government and industry taskforce, with input from patient advocacy groups, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which said they will trial new approaches to "medicines pricing, access and adoption."

If all goes as planned, reimbursement authority NICE has estimated that the pilots could result in up to five medicines being approved for NHS use each year.

"When a new medicine is proven to work, patients shouldn't have to wait," said Health Secretary James Murray. "These pilots are designed to give life-changing treatments to NHS patients faster and more fairly than ever before, while ensuring taxpayers continue to get value for money."

One of the will look specifically at how innovative treatments that have already met safety, quality and clinical standards- including rare disease therapies – can be given to eligible NHS patients more quickly.

Others will look at ways to account for the productivity benefits of new medicines, such as recognising the value of enabling people who receive treatment to return to work, to look at regional funding to improve patient access to priority medicines, and to explore industry co-investing in "screening, testing, and the full care journey of patients," said the DHSC.

"While there is more work to be done, today's news represents an important step on the path to achieving our shared goal of making the UK a world-leading environment for patient access and life sciences investment," said Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

"We have already seen industry respond positively to the government's commitment earlier this year to increase investment in innovative medicines," he added. "I hope that these delivery measures continue to build investor confidence and enable us to make further progress together."

Not all are happy with the US-UK pharma deal, however, with a study in the British Medical Journal last week claiming it will cost the NHS around £45 billion ($60 billion) within the next decade and divert resources away from essential services, and lead to 229,000 excess deaths by 2036 and increased health inequalities.

That analysis is disputed by the DHSC, which said the pilots support the government's commitment to double innovative medicines spending from 0.3% to 0.6% of GDP over the next decade and deliver "faster, fairer and equitable NHS patient access to cutting-edge therapies."