UK plans for early access to medicines scheme

Severely ill patients in the UK, and those with rare debilitating conditions, could be given new medicines years before they are licensed, under new regulations, according to plans outlined by UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured).

The Early Access to Medicines scheme would enable a small number of promising medicines to be fast-tracked. Department of Health officials said the scheme would benefit pharmaceutical companies by enabling them to gain experience of their medicines being used in the NHS.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will oversee the scheme, being launched in April. The Health Secretary said: "What patients want is sometimes to try medicines that may not be clinically proven to be effective but are clinically safe. We are streamlining the process so these medicines can be used much earlier - particularly if they have early promise - and that is something which will bring hope to a lot of patients."