Submission to the Labour NPF on access to medicines
BIA has submitted a response on access to medicines to Labour's 2023 National Policy Forum (NPF) consultation.
In our submission we highlighted that:
- Treatments produced by the life sciences sector save and improve millions of lives in the UK and around the world every year. Despite advances that have given hope to children and adults with terrible life-limiting conditions, too few NHS patients are able to access the gold-standard of care.
- Innovative new medicines, such as cell and gene therapies, have the potential to transform patient care in the UK by treating the root cause of previously incurable diseases. These treatments have unique potential to treat diseases where there is a high level of unmet need, including many rare diseases. They also have potential to generate significant cost savings for the NHS, as fewer patients would require long-term or lifelong treatment and care for their condition.
- As more innovative medicines become available in the next few years, the future Labour government should work alongside the life sciences industry to ensure that NHS patients can access the best available treatments on an equitable basis.
