Life Sciences

(asked on 10th July 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has contingency plans for the life sciences industry should negotiations on the new Voluntary Scheme for branded medicines pricing and access not be concluded.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 13th July 2023

The Government is firmly committed to driving growth and investment in the Life Sciences sector while helping to get innovative drugs and medicines to National Health Service patients faster, including through the delivery of the Life Sciences Vision.

The current voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) finishes at the end of this year. Negotiations on a successor scheme began in May and aim to conclude later this year to take effect from January 2024. We are open to ideas about how a successor VPAS should operate from 2024 onwards and look forward to working with industry to agree a mutually beneficial scheme that supports better patient outcomes, ensures the sustainability of NHS spend on branded medicines and enables a strong United Kingdom life sciences industry.

We cannot comment on ongoing commercially sensitive negotiations.

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