16.01.13
Health Select Committee attacks ‘unacceptable’ progress on value-based pricing
Faster progress must be made on a new system for approving drugs that can be used on the NHS, the Health Select Committee has said.
A new report states that the details of the new system, set to start in 2014, are taking too long to work out. The committee is calling on Government to publish details about the system by the end of March.
Value-based pricing would see medicines and treatments appraised for patient benefit by NICE, but the controversial cost-effectiveness criteria would be replaced by a negotiation between the manufacturer and health officials.
Chair of the Health Committee, Stephen Dorrell MP, said: “What we were told during our inquiry indicates that the move to value-based pricing of drugs will be a more modest change than has been suggested, but there is a lack of clarity around the whole issue which has persisted for too long.
“Decisions need to be taken, and the details of the scheme made public to avoid problems with the transition to the new system at the beginning of 2014. We hope the Government will respond positively to our suggestion that this situation should be clarified before the end of March this year.”
The report says: “It remains a source of concern that so little progress has been made on defining this nebulous concept.
“We do not regard it as acceptable that the arrangements for value-based pricing have still not been settled and that those who will have to work with those arrangements are still unclear about what value-based pricing will mean in practice.”
The committee also calls for detailed publication of all drug trials, regardless of the conclusions: “We do not believe it should be either legal or considered ethical to withhold research data about pharmaceutical products. We are therefore concerned that this simple principle is not universally applied in practice.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “We are engaging a range of groups including patients, the NHS and industry as we develop plans for value-based pricing.
“However, as negotiations between the Department of Health and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry are under way, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said: “It is absolutely right that NICE should be given a central role in implementing the new ‘value-based’ pricing system.
“We need strong evidence to show that changes to the system will deliver maximum benefit to patients, without creating significant additional costs for commissioners or taxpayers.
“Every part of the implementation of this new pricing system must be carried out openly and accountably, with patients, the public, commissioners and industry having a voice.
“Ultimately what the NHS needs is an agreement on value based pricing that recognises both the value of pharmaceuticals to patients and the need to secure and develop the pharmaceutical industry in the UK.”
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