BIA comment on Government response to the Accelerated Access Review

Commenting on the response from Government to the Accelerated access Reviw, BIA CEO Steve Bates, said:

"Today’s government response to the Accelerated Access Review is a key piece in the jigsaw of UK government life science policy that will set the environment for our sector in the lead up to Brexit and beyond. It fits between the publication of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy in the summer and ahead of both an anticipated Sector Deal and the outcome of the Treasury-led Patient Capital Review later in the year. The BIA has been a long-term advocate of mechanisms that accelerate patient access to innovative products, developed by our sector.
 
"This new fast track pathway should both speed up access for NHS patients to the latest therapies and help to ensure the UK remains a globally attractive cluster in which to start, scale and grow leading life sciences businesses.  The Accelerated Access Pathway  must deliver real change in the ability of patients to access life-changing medicines, including emerging innovations such as genomic medicine and cell and gene therapies, which have the potential to prevent and cure disease. This is an area where scaling UK companies are in a global race to lead a new industrial sub sector. Sir Andrew Witty’s chairmanship of the new Accelerated Access Collaborative means significant industrial insight into the selection process for products able to access this new accelerated route to market. The Accelerated Access Collaborative must have Innovative SME representation.
 
"For the UK to become the third global bioscience cluster, access policies must both keep pace with our pioneering science and innovation, and be globally competitive.  It is obvious that no strategy can succeed without a corresponding plan of action. Polling undertaken by the BIA earlier this year showed that 82% of NHS staff were unaware of either the Accelerated Access Review nor the proceeding government strategy Innovation, Health and Wealth. In its response, the Government refers to numerous initiatives originally brought in via Innovation, Health and Wealth, including NHS Test Beds and the Innovation Scorecard. Our polling reveals that only 5% of NHS staff are aware of these two programmes. If the Review’s ambition for innovation is to truly take hold then it requires both NHS buy-in and top-level government leadership. The BIA and its members stand ready to work alongside government and NHS leadership to take this important agenda forward. As we move towards a sector deal for the life sciences sector, issues of access are a central feature and the publication of this government response is an important milestone along that journey.”

You can read the full governemnt response on gov.uk: Accelerated access scheme means patients will get new treatments faster

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Notes to editors

Contact: Ed Sexton, BIA Communications and Media Relations Manager: [email protected] 0207 630 2196

About the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA)

Established over 25 years ago at the infancy of biotechnology, the BioIndustry Association (BIA) is the trade association for innovative enterprises involved in UK bioscience. Members include emerging and more established bioscience companies; pharmaceutical companies; academic, research and philanthropic organisations; and service providers to the bioscience sector. The BIA represents the interests of its members to a broad section of stakeholders, from government and regulators to patient groups and the media. Our goal is to secure the UK's position as a global hub and as the best location for innovative research and commercialisation, enabling our world-leading research base to deliver healthcare solutions that can truly make a difference to people's lives.

For further information, please go to www.bioindustry.org and twitter.com/BIA_UK