Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the differential rebate rates in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access when compared to other countries, including Germany, and the impact of those rates on (1) foreign direct investment into UK Research and Development, and (2) the prioritisation of the UK as a launch market for innovative medicines.

No assessment has been made.

The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) should operate from 2024 onwards. The Government will work with industry and apply learning from approaches in the United Kingdom and internationally to agree a mutually beneficial successor that supports better patient outcomes; ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines; and enables a strong UK life sciences industry.

Within VPAS there are strong incentives to launch new products in the UK in the form of the new active substance exemptions, which allow innovative medicines containing new active substances to set their list price freely and exempts such medicines from payments for three years.