Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the new NHS Commercial Framework allows for increased use of indication-specific pricing agreements to support patient access to future cancer innovations.

As part of the 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth, NHS England committed to undertake two consultations on amendments to the NHS Commercial Framework for New Medicines. The first of these launched on 31 July 2024 for eight weeks. The proposed amendments would make the framework more explicit about the circumstances in which NHS England will consider indication specific pricing mechanisms. They would also align the framework with the Competition and Markets Authority statement on combination medicines.

NHS England and the Department engaged with key stakeholders throughout the consultation period, and NHS England intend to publish an updated NHS Commercial Framework for New Medicines by the end of 2024.