NHS: NICE-appraised Medicines Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Walton of Detchant
Main Page: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Walton of Detchant's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(10 years, 3 months ago)
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Lord Walton of Detchant (CB)
My Lords, can the Minister say what consideration the Government are giving to the availability of the highly expensive so-called orphan and ultra-orphan drugs that are now coming on stream, which are effectively treating many rare diseases?
Earl Howe
My Lords, this important class of drugs will be subject to a special evaluation process by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. That methodology has been worked through and over the coming months we will see NICE evaluating orphan medicines and medicines for highly specialised conditions to inform clinicians in the NHS and, where appropriate, provide a funding direction for those drugs.