NHS England announces new fund to fast-track promising new drugs

National Health Service (NHS) patients in England are set to benefit from early access to potentially life-saving new medicines, including cutting-edge gene therapies, thanks to a new Innovative Medicines Fund and £680 million ($925 million) of ringfenced funding, the NHS chief executive has announced today.

The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) will build upon the success of the reformed Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), by supporting patients with any condition, including those with rare and genetic diseases, to get early access to the most clinically promising treatments where further data is needed to support health technology assessor the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in making final recommendations around their routine use in the NHS.

An estimated one in 17 people will be affected by a rare disease in their lifetime, and this fund will now support the NHS to fast-track patient access to treatments which can demonstrate substantial clinical promise but still have significant uncertainty around their clinical and cost effectiveness and hence long-term value for taxpayers.