Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support future patient access to new and clinically-effective medicines for glioblastoma multiforme.

A number of drugs currently being developed for potential use in the treatment of glioblastoma have been referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the development of technology appraisal guidance. New arrangements for the assessment and adoption of cancer drugs were introduced in 2016 that are designed to ensure that patients benefit from rapid access to the most promising new cancer drugs. Under these arrangements, wherever possible, NICE aims to publish draft guidance on cancer drugs before the product receives a marketing authorisation for use in the United Kingdom, and drugs recommended in draft NICE guidance will be eligible for Cancer Drugs Fund funding from the time that the drug receives a marketing authorisation.

In May, the Government announced £40 million for brain cancer research in honour of Dame Tessa Jowell. Funding will be invested through the National Institute for Health Research to support a wide range of research from early translation (experimental medicine) through clinical and on to applied research. This will support the translation of laboratory discoveries into treatments and better care for patients.