Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to Everolimus for patients with epilepsy related to tuberous sclerosis complex.

Everolimus in the treatment of refractory epilepsy associated with tuberous sclerosis complex has been through the NHS England clinical policy development process and was considered by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) as part of the May 2018 prioritisation round. CPAG determined that the treatment fell into the lower end of five levels of relative priority for funding, and therefore the decision has been taken to not routinely commission the treatment at this time.

Everolimus will be considered again at the next prioritisation round in November and, should it be successful, funding would be made available from April 2019. One factor that can significantly influence the relative priority of a treatment is the price put forward by the manufacturer. In advance of Everolimus being considered again in November, the manufacturer has been given the opportunity to offer a revised price and submit any further evidence that may have become available since the last prioritisation round.