VPAG react: Deal ‘too generous’ to big pharma, says GJN

Date: 20 November 2023
Campaigns: Pharma

Following today’s announcement on the VPAG scheme set to replace VPAS,

Tim Bierley, pharmaceuticals campaign manager at Global Justice Now said:

“The government said it wouldn’t give in to the unaffordable demands from the pharmaceutical industry, but this deal effectively doubles the cap on sales growth of branded drugs. It’s hard to see how the NHS won’t be spending far more on drugs than previously, making this deal too generous to big pharma.

“The deal secures some industry investment, showing it is possible to use the NHS’s buying power to negotiate with an industry that seeks to maximise its profits at every turn. But given many of the drugs the NHS spends most on were developed with public funding, this was a missed opportunity to secure a wider reset of the NHS’s relationship with this industry that recognises the importance of public funding to innovation in medicines.”