Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make mepolizumab available on the NHS to treat asthma.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued draft guidance on the use of mepolizumab (Nucala) for treating severe refractory eosinophilic asthma. This recommends that adults with severe asthma symptoms, including those who suffer many asthma attacks or those taking regular oral steroids, should have access to the drug. Final guidance is expected to be published in January 2017.

In the absence of NICE guidance, funding decisions for individual treatments should be made by the relevant National Health Service commissioner, based on an assessment of the available evidence.