The 2024 VPAG key objectives

The 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAG) is designed to ensure NHS patients can access the best available clinically proven and cost-effective medicines while striking a balance between supporting innovation in the pharmaceutical industry and ensuring medicine spending in the UK remains under control.

The scheme achieves these aims by setting out specific commitments for the government, the NHS, and industry to deliver within the scheme's lifetime.

Many of these commitments are financial contributions from industry, such as company payments to DHSC that limit the size of the NHS’s medicine budget for branded medicines.

Other commitments are more focused on improving the NHS’s adoption of innovation and providing patients with better access to treatments. It is important to note that delivering commitments to improve access to newer medicines do not add costs for the NHS, as VPAG caps the NHS's medicines expenditure on newer medicines.

Finally, the latest voluntary scheme includes a world-first, industry-funded, co-created investment programme to support ecosystem-wide improvements such as industry clinical research in the NHS and investment in sustainable manufacturing.

Background to the 2024 Voluntary Scheme on Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG)

• What is the Voluntary Scheme?
• The 2024 VPAG key objectives
• Promoting better patient outcomes and a healthier population
• Contributing to a financially sustainable NHS
• How company payments are calculated under the 2024 VPAG
• Supporting UK economic growth