Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access on access to medicines in the UK.

The voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) includes strong commercial incentives to launch new products in the form of freedom of list pricing and exemptions from payments for medicines containing a new active substance. In addition, the scheme made commitments to improve the access environment for medicines which has been done through the publication of NHS England’s Commercial Framework for New Medicines, a review of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s methods and processes and improved horizon scanning capabilities.

These incentives and commitments have contributed to VPAS driving significant improvements in patient access to clinically and cost-effective medicines, whilst ensuring sustainable and predictable spend growth for the National Health Service and industry during a period of economic uncertainty. This is demonstrated by data published in April 2023, by the U.S. industry body, PhRMA ranked the UK third in the G20 for availability of new medicines from 2012 to 2021.