Myeloma UK reaction to Government response on Value Based Pricing Consultation

Myeloma UK welcomes the publication of the Department of Health (DH) response to the Value Based Pricing (VBP) Consultation and applauds its efforts to date on what is a very complex area.

Whilst Myeloma UK values the opportunity to participate in this important debate, we do remain concerned about certain aspects of the Consultation response, in particular the lack of detail and the need for further in-depth discussion and consultation with stakeholders.

Following the publication of the Government response to the VBP Consultation, Myeloma UK:

• Remains supportive of the need to change the way drugs are priced and approved for use in the UK. It is important that the Government ensures appropriate access to treatment for patients, a fair deal for the NHS, as well as appropriate returns and incentives for the pharmaceutical industry
• Welcomes the news on the continued role of NICE but has concerns about the lack of direction to date on what this role might be
• Urges the Government to develop a definition of innovation and value, that is broadly acceptable to all stakeholders
• Remains concerned about the lack of evidence on factors that should and should not be included in determining the value of a new technology and deciding whether it should be approved for use on the NHS (for example social value judgements)
• Hopes that further discussions on VBP will tackle the impact that genetics and personalised medicine will have on the value and approval of medicines in the future, and the relevance this will have to VBP

Myeloma UK Chief Executive Eric Low said:

“I believe that VBP has the overwhelming potential to offer a win to patients, the NHS and Industry. However, if we don’t deal with the detail and get the VBP strategy anything other than perfect, it could be a disaster. We will therefore continue to engage with all stakeholders and to push for further discussion and consultation.’’

ENDS

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