Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the time taken for clinically-proven drugs to be considered for use on the NHS once they are off-patent.

The Medicines Repurposing Programme was established in March 2021 by the Department, NHS England, the National Institute for Health Research and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This seeks to identify new uses for medicines that are outside of the scope of the existing licence for the medicine. This typically involves taking an existing medicine that already has a marketing authorisation or licence for human use for a particular condition, and then using it to treat another condition. It provides a tailored package of support to priority repurposed medicines, potentially including support for research, licensing and implementation.

NICE makes recommendations on whether the benefits of licensed medicines justify their costs and maintains surveillance of new developments that may affect its published guidance, including the latest evidence and any significant changes in the prices of medicines. NICE would consult on proposed changes to its guidance with stakeholders if significant new evidence relating to the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a medicine were to emerge.