NHS should adopt gene therapies faster, says industry body

The NHS must adopt new budget strategies to research and manufacture cell and gene therapies of the future, according to a recent report.

The report, released by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), highlights the need for the NHS to adopt new budgeting strategies to manage the growing demand for cell and gene therapies in the UK. As these advanced therapies are applied to more common diseases, the current NHS funding model may become unsustainable without significant changes.

Dr Richard Torbett, ABPI's chief executive, said: 'We should think about health spending as an investment. We need to take a long-term view of the value and cost-effectiveness of medicines, looking not just at the upfront costs, but at the lasting outcomes we want over years and decades. Doing so will require innovative new payment models that can respond to real patient outcomes.'

The ABPI is a trade body representing companies in the UK that develop and manufacture all types of medicines and vaccines.

Their report states that as more common diseases, such as dementia and Parkinson's disease, become treatable with advanced therapies, the current one-off payment system typically used for rare diseases may no longer be sustainable. This is particularly critical as the number of patients needing these therapies is expected to grow from 2500 in 2021 to 10,000 by 2028, and the number of approved new therapies is projected to increase from two per year to 10-15 by 2030.

A key challenge is the uncertainty regarding the long-term benefits of advanced therapies, as clinical trials often cover only short periods before the therapies are introduced to the market. This makes it difficult for regulatory bodies, including NICE, to assess the long-term value of the therapies.

Commenting on the NHS's adaptability in implementing new budget strategies, Eduardo Cabas, general manager of the biotherapies company CSL Behring UK and Ireland, added: 'Our experience is that NHS England has shown flexibility in negotiating pioneering outcome-based agreements that make these therapies available to patients while offering the NHS the assurance of value and financial protection it requires.'

The proposed innovations include improving the consistency of data collection on the cost-effectiveness of therapies, spreading out payments over time to support patient access to the treatments and establishing a coordination group across the UK.

Whether the report will impact decision-making by NICE and the NHS is unclear. At time of writing, the UK is waiting for the new Labour government to announce their priorities for NHS spending. Health secretary Wes Streeting has commissioned a report, expected in September, which will inform plans for the health service over the next decade.