Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using gene therapy treatments to treat life-long conditions, including haemophilia.

While no overall assessment has been made, the Government wants National Health Service patients to benefit from innovative and effective new medicines. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to providing the latest cutting-edge treatments and therapies for patients. New treatments for all conditions such as gene therapies will only be commissioned by NHS England if it receives a license for use through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE has recommended several advanced therapeutic medicinal products including gene therapies, that are now routinely funded for NHS patients. There are two gene therapies for adults with haemophilia B which are expected to be available within the next few years.