The pharmaceutical industry says financial uncertainties are a key reason why the English Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) – offering the potential for time-limited funding for promising non-cancer treatments where benefits are uncertain at launch - has still not been used a year after it was put in place. Industry wants the National Health Service to share the financial risk of taking part in the fund.

Ipsen and other experts have criticized proposals from the UK government on changes to the statutory scheme for the pricing of branded medicines. Plans for differential rebates are seen as too complex, meaning their impact is difficult to predict and they could end up costing the government more.

Data provided to the Pink Sheet under freedom of information requests show the scale of patient access that has been delivered under the UK’s scheme for early access to products that have yet to receive a marketing authorization.