Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for products not yet on the market were made to NICE in each year from 2016 to 2018; and how many of those applications were granted.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether specific drugs and other treatments represent a clinically and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources through its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programmes. Topics are identified through an established topic selection process and formally referred to NICE by Ministers. Companies do not apply to NICE for an assessment and NICE does not grant applications. NICE aims to issue recommendations on new drugs referred to it within a few months of licensing and therefore normally begins its appraisal process before the drug receives a marketing authorisation.