Change is afoot for pharma once again, this time from a market access perspective as NICE prepares to implement a new ‘budget impact threshold’ that already has the industry warning of a negative impact on patients who would benefit from innovative medicines (see page 7). NICE’s approach to treatments for very rare conditions through its Highly Specialised Therapies (HST) could also change soon under the cost-effectiveness watchdog’s proposed evaluation plans (see page 8).
From NICE’s perspective the new policy will ‘significantly speed up access’ for ‘cost-effective therapies’, but patient groups and industry are warning that these plans too will limit access to treatments. Orphan drugs and access are topics very close to the heart of Shire’s general manager for the UK and Ireland (see page 34).
In this month’s issue of PharmaTimes, Sebastian Stachowiak tells us of the pressure points within the system, what the HST changes could mean and where the opportunities lay for industry to make a difference to the lives of patients with rare diseases.
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