Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Norman Lamb Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Norman Lamb)]

My right and noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Health, Earl Howe, has made the following written ministerial statement:

I am pleased to announce today the publication of the 2014 pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (PPRS). This follows my announcement of 6 November on the scheme’s heads of agreement, Official Report, column WS19. The PPRS is a voluntary scheme agreed between the Department of Health, acting on behalf of the UK Government and Northern Ireland, and the branded pharmaceutical industry, represented by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), under section 262 of the National Health Service Act 2006.

The current voluntary pricing scheme, the 2009 PPRS will terminate on 31 December 2013. Following negotiations, the Department of Health and the ABPI have now reached agreement on the full policy and operational detail of the new scheme. The new scheme will operate for five years starting from 1 January 2014.

The new scheme will provide an unprecedented level of certainty on almost all the NHS branded medicines bill. The bill will stay flat over the next two years and will grow slowly after that. The industry will make payments to the Department of Health if NHS spending on branded medicines exceeds the agreed growth rate. The agreement therefore provides stability and predictability to both the Government and the UK pharmaceutical industry, supporting the industry’s global competitiveness. It will encourage the use of innovative and effective new medicines in the NHS.

The PPRS has been placed in the Library. Copies are available to hon. Members from the Vote Office and to noble Lords from the Printed Paper Office.