Scottish government doubles fund for new medicines
pharmafile | May 20, 2015 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Scotland, cystic fibrosis, medicines
The Scottish government will increase its New Medicines Fund next year to double the amount of money available to fund treatments for people with rare or end-of-life conditions.
This is the second year that the Scottish government has doubled the amount of money available to fund these medicines. It first provided £20 million in 2013/14 and then £40 million in 2014/15 – and this will now be doubled again to £80 million in 2015/16.
The New Medicines Fund was set up to expand and replace the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund. Scottish health secretary Shona Robinson said it would support health boards to fund the cost of orphan, ultra-orphan and end-of-life drugs.
“The New Medicines Fund has been key to removing a potential barrier to accessing expensive new drugs. For many patients, innovative treatments can extend their lives or improve the quality of the time they have left, and I am clear that we should be doing all we can to make these available.
“The fund will work in tandem with the changes introduced to the SMC process, which have given patients greater say over decisions and resulted in more drugs approved for widespread use on the NHS.”
Robinson made the announcement during a visit to the Scottish Cystic Fibrosis Service at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh. In 2013/14 the Rare Conditions Medicines Fund supported the cost of 45 different medicines for cystic fibrosis including Vertex Pharmaceutical’s Kalydeco (ivacaftor) and Gilead’s Cayston (aztreonam lysine).
Yet the Cystic Fibrosis Trust says that although there are 10,000 people living with cystic fibrosis across the UK, only those living North of the border are likely to access to future personalised medicines, through the fund.
“The Scottish government has made this possible by reinvesting money rebated by the Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme directly back into the New Medicines Fund. This isn’t happening in England, Wales or Northern Ireland where there is little transparency on how these funds are currently being reinvested,” the charity says in a statement.
Ed Owen, chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, says: “It is vital that the NHS across the UK is able to introduce these new drugs to those who need them as soon as possible. We welcome this announcement which shows that Scotland is leading the way on this life-giving issue and urge other parts of the UK to follow suit.”
The money injection also raises hopes of access for future genetic medicines, including one that is expected to receive European approval later this year, which is likely to treat up to half of the cystic fibrosis population.
Lilian Anekwe
Related Content
Vertex announces positive results from trial for cystic fibrosis combination treatment
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from its once-daily vanzacaftor/tezacaftor/deutivacaftor programme, the company’s phase 3 …
Arcturus Therapeutics gains FDA ODD for cystic fibrosis treatment
Arcturus Therapeutics has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan …
NHS in Scotland makes rheumatoid arthritis drug available
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) have recommended the use of Galapagos UK’s JYSELECA® (filgotinib) for …
