Supporting UK economic growth
Two key objectives of the Voluntary Scheme are to drive economic growth through improved population health and productivity, and to make the UK a more attractive and competitive place for global life sciences companies to invest and grow.
To support these aims, and for the first time in the history of the scheme, the 2024 VPAG includes a new industry-funded investment programme to channel around £400 million of investment into the UK’s health and life sciences sector.
The 2024 VPAG Investment Programme is the first major public-private collaboration of this scale in the world. The funding will be channelled into key health and life sciences projects across the country to:
Increase opportunities for patients to participate in commercial clinical trials
The programme will allocate 75% of its investment to expand the UK’s capacity and capability to conduct clinical trials funded by industry. In the first stream, up to 18 new Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs) will be established across the four nations to enhance and build upon the UK’s commercial clinical trials infrastructure and support patient recruitment into trials. Researchers will also have increased access to the latest equipment and technology to enable innovative trials to be designed across hospital and primary, community and residential care settings, bringing research closer to communities across the UK.
Create sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation
Around 20% of the funding will be directed towards sustainable manufacturing initiatives, promoting efficiency and reducing waste and emissions within the pharmaceutical sector. These efforts align with government and industry Net Zero goals, supporting the sector’s environmental commitments while enhancing the UK’s global competitiveness. Find out more about the programme here: https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/programme/sustainable-medicines-manufacturing/
Support innovative Health Technology Assessment (HTA) approaches
The final 5% of the investment will focus on modernising HTA processes – a way to assess the cost and clinical effectiveness of new treatments - facilitating improved access to innovative medicines. This includes support for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) HTA Innovation Laboratory and a new horizon scanning database - UK Pharmascan which provides information on new medicines coming to market- benefiting both patients and the wider health system.
Background to the 2024 Voluntary Scheme on Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG)
Last modified: 22 October 2024
Last reviewed: 22 October 2024