To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Department of Health and Social Care’s ongoing Voluntary Price and Access Scheme (VPAS) pre-negotiation workshops, what assessment they have made of the (1) the impact of VPAS 2019 on the UK life science sector, and (2) the implications for their negotiations on VPAS 2024.
Answered on
20 March 2023
The Government is working to better understand the impacts of the operation of the current voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) on the United Kingdom life sciences industry. We are in direct conversations with pharmaceutical companies, including in the recent pre-negotiation workshops, as well as with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Department for Business and Trade about the business environment for life sciences.
The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to VPAS should operate from 2024 onwards. We are working with industry 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.