Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the document entitled Life Sciences Competitiveness Indicators 2023, published on 13 July 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the reduction in (a) inward life sciences foreign direct investment and (b) equity finance raised by life sciences companies in 2022.
Answered by George Freeman
The reduction in the estimated value of inward life sciences foreign direct investment and in equity finance raised in 2022 was not unique to the UK. Other global business environments, such as the USA, also saw falls in investment and equity raised. This was in large part due to changes in the life sciences investment environment following the COVID-19 pandemic and broader economic factors. Regardless, the department is acting in the face of fierce global competition. DSIT, DHSC and the Treasury announced a package of measures in May 2023, backed by over £650 million in funding, to reverse this decline.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of potential links between the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access and levels of foreign direct investment in life sciences.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government has considered in broad terms the link between volume-based rebate payments in our medicine pricing schemes and various kinds of investment in our Impact Assessment of updates to the Statutory Scheme for branded medicines pricing, which operates alongside voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS). The Government’s 2023 Impact Assessment of updates to the Statutory Scheme can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-scheme-to-control-the-cost-of-branded-health-service-medicines.
We are in close discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Business and Trade about the business environment for life sciences and its impact on investment.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2023 to Question 192548 on Gene Therapies, how many of the advanced therapeutic medicinal products evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence that have been recommended for use were gene therapies appraised through the Single Technology Appraisal pathway.
Answered by Will Quince
As of 5 September 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has made positive recommendations on eight out of the nine gene therapy medicinal products it has evaluated using its single technology appraisal process.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to ask the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to update the baseline modelling and assumptions it uses to make decisions on the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating specific age cohorts against seasonal influenza.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
For the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to formally revisit the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating specific age cohorts against seasonal influenza, an up-to-date impact and cost effectiveness analysis would be required, and the UK Health Security Agency is in the process of updating the influenza model using more recent data, including accounting for changes due to the pandemic.
There is currently uncertainty on any longer-term changes because of the pandemic to social contact patterns and the activity of flu in the population for a fully robust update to cost effectiveness analysis in the short term.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's document entitled Final impact assessment: statutory scheme to control costs of branded health service medicines, published in March 2020, whether his Department plans to update that impact assessment using data from the Life Sciences Competitiveness Indicators 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government publishes new impact assessments each time the statutory scheme is updated. Further impact assessments were published in respect of updates made to the statutory scheme in 2022 and 2023.
The Government is currently consulting on updates to the statutory scheme to make sure that the scheme can continue to meet its objectives from 2024 onwards. A consultation stage impact assessment of the proposed updates has been published, and is available at the following link:
An updated impact assessment will be published alongside the response to the consultation and will include the updated Competitiveness Indicators in the evidence base.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing Section 3(D) of the Abortion Act 1967 in the context of potential risks presented to the health and safety of women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of the implications for policies on the provision of abortion pills to a woman beyond the legal time limit for abortion.
The law on abortion and required standards of medical care are clear. The Department continues to work closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and abortion providers to ensure that abortions in England are performed in accordance with the Abortion Act 1967.
There are no plans to review Section 3(D) of the Abortion Act 1967. Parliament decided the circumstances under which abortion can legally be undertaken. It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows hon. Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of provision of abortion pills to a woman beyond the legal limit for abortion by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of the implications for policies on the provision of abortion pills to a woman beyond the legal time limit for abortion.
The law on abortion and required standards of medical care are clear. The Department continues to work closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and abortion providers to ensure that abortions in England are performed in accordance with the Abortion Act 1967.
There are no plans to review Section 3(D) of the Abortion Act 1967. Parliament decided the circumstances under which abortion can legally be undertaken. It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows hon. Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of NHS England’s Budget Impact Test on single-dose gene therapies.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
The Budget Impact Test is an integral part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluation process for new interventions, including gene therapies. It assesses the financial implications of introducing a new therapy by considering factors such as patient eligibility, treatment costs, and the impact on National Health Service resources. NICE undertakes a Budget Impact Test for each individual single-dose gene therapy as part of standard NICE process.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to implement the commitment in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s methods and processes review to accept a greater degree of uncertainty in the evaluation of innovative new health technologies, including emerging cell and gene therapies.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its guidance. NICE made a number of changes to its health technology evaluation manual in January 2022 following a comprehensive review of its methods and processes, including to clarify its committees’ additional flexibility in considering uncertainty when evidence generation is difficult. NICE’s technology appraisal and highly specialised technology committees are now using the updated health technology evaluation manual for all new evaluations which began after 1 February 2022, including evaluations of cell and gene therapies.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Single Technology Appraisal pathway is compatible with emerging innovations including gene therapies.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates gene therapies through both its technology appraisal programme and its highly specialised technologies programmes as appropriate. NICE’s processes have been proven to be suitable for the evaluation of advanced therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs) where companies are willing to price their products in a way that represents value to the taxpayer. NICE has recommended 80% of the ATMPs it has evaluated for use by the National Health Service and they are now available for the treatment of NHS patients, including through the Cancer Drugs Fund and managed access agreements negotiated between the NHS and the manufacturer.
Most recently, in April 2023, NICE recommended eladocagene exuparvovec, the first and currently only gene therapy for children with an ultra-rare genetic disorder, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency, enabling its use on the NHS in England.