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 potential impact of changes to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access rebate rate on (a) investment in late-stage clinical trials and (b) patient access to new medicines.

We have not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of changes to 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) payment percentages on late-stage clinical trials and access to new medicines. An assessment relevant to these issues was published in December 2022 on the impact of changes to payment percentages in the associated Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines.

Changes to the VPAS payment percentages reflect the scheme working as intended to adjust for increased sales of branded medicines to the National Health Service and are below the rate projected when the Scheme was agreed with industry in 2018.

The NHS has delivered a record number of access agreements since VPAS was agreed including many world and European-first agreements. The NHS has delivered world-leading uptake of some of the most important cancer and rare disease drugs, while also agreeing deals for a number of new cell and gene therapies.