Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care during the debate on Covid-19: Response and Excess Deaths on Thursday 18 April 2024, Official Report, column 537, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) NICE and (b) the MHRA on their progress on reaching a decision on whether to recommend the use of Evusheld 2 to prevent covid-19.

The Department meets with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) regularly to discuss a range of issues, including access to medicines. The NICE has formally started its appraisal of AZD-3152, also known as sipavibart and referred to as Evusheld 2, ahead of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) decision on whether it should be given a United Kingdom marketing authorisation, and expects to invite stakeholder submissions in April 2024. Timelines for both the NICE’s guidance and licensing depend on data from the SUPERNOVA trial being available. AstraZeneca intends to submit clinical data to the NICE and the MHRA at the same time, with the aim that both organisations are able to reach decisions as close together as possible. If AZD-3152 is recommended as clinically and cost effective by the NICE, the National Health Service in England will be under a statutory requirement to fund AZD-3152 for eligible patients, in line with the NICE’s recommendations.