Undervaluing new medicines threatens patient wellbeing and economic growth; report

Innovative medicines and other new therapies have extended life expectancy by some 10 years since the 1950s, and contributed significantly to the UK’s prosperity. But Licensed to Cure?, a new report published this week by the UCL School of Pharmacy, UK, warns that if bodies such as the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) under‐estimate the value of their benefits this will undermine investment in research and treatment development.

In some instances it also threatens the integrity of the licensing system established to protect public interests in the wake of the thalidomide tragedy. Unless evaluation methods are modernised, progress towards providing better treatments for cancers and other illnesses which harm older people and younger individuals with rare disorders will be slowed.

Risk undermining both investment and patient confidence in the NHS