Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access
(asked on 14th July 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the amount of Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access payments the NHS will receive in 2020.
The 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) sets a limit of 2% per year on allowed growth in sales of branded medicines to the National Health Service for the duration of the scheme.
The Department holds a six-monthly operational review of VPAS, which includes the other parties to the scheme; the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the devolved administrations. Our assessment is that the affordability mechanism within the scheme is operating effectively.
Sales and payment information for VPAS are published on a quarterly basis. The most recent publication, for data up to Q1 2020, is available at the following link:
This publication shows that in Q1 2020, payments of £150 million were made under the VPAS. The latest estimate of income for the whole of 2020 is £609 million, based on indicative sales growth to Q1 2020.