Transparency data

23 July 2026 minutes

Published 9 October 2026

Meeting details

This meeting was held on 23 July 2026 from 2pm to 4pm in the Sir Alexander Fleming Boardroom at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) offices and on Microsoft Teams.

The chair was David Simmons.

Minutes were taken by Michael Vidal.

Attendees

From the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC):

• Abigail Bishop-Laggett
• Shamin Rahman
• Jacob Maxwell
• David Barley
• Ishi Shrivastava
• Simon Roer
• Nicolas Moritarty
• Nandana Bhasilal
• Michael Vidal

From NHS England:

• Claire Foreman
• Rosie Lovett

From ABPI:

• Claire Machin
• Joe Edwards
• Victoria Jordan
• Pinchas Kahtan
• Guy Phillips

From the devolved governments:

• Cathy Harrison (Northern Ireland)
• Alison Strath (Scotland)
• Andrew Evans (Wales)

From the Office for Life Sciences (OLS):

• Rory MacFarlane

From the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE):

• Arron Dunphy
• Alexander Ng
• Jacoline Bouvy

From Medicines UK:

• Mark Samuels (observer)

From the Ethical Medicines Industry Group:

• Leslie Galloway (observer)

From the BioIndustry Association (BIA):

• Rosie Lindup (observer)

Introductory remarks

David Simmons (DS) opened the fifth operational review of the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (VPAG), noting the substantial agenda and thanking participants for their continued collaboration during a busy period. While it was acknowledged that wider policy developments may arise, the meeting aimed to focus on the operational review.

Claire Machin (CM) introduced herself as having a wider remit on the ABPI leadership team, with the team covering international affairs and market dynamics. CM noted the stronger links between international and commercial issues in the current geopolitical environment.

Victoria Jordan (VJ) also confirmed that remits for chapter 3, value, access and uptake work remain unchanged with her.

Minutes of the last meeting

DS noted that there were no outstanding actions from the previous meeting. The group was invited to raise any matters arising, but no further issues were identified.

VPAG objective 1: NHS financial sustainability

Implementation of the UK-US pharmaceutical arrangement

Abigail Bishop-Laggett (ABL) updated on progress with the UK-US pharmaceutical pricing arrangement and its implications for VPAG.

ABL noted that, since the UK-US arrangement was published in April, DHSC has made rapid progress on the implementation of that agreement. For example, the NICE cost-effectiveness threshold moved to £25,000 to £35,000 on 2 April 2026, with patients already benefiting - 9 medicines have since been approved under the new threshold.

Work continues on the EQ-5D-5L value set, which is to be implemented into NICE’s evaluation and methods manuals. NICE’s consultation closed on 27 May, with final publication expected next quarter and no substantive changes currently anticipated.

Spending targets remain in place and monitoring plans are being finalised. Recent joint government and industry taskforce sprints explored how to meet those targets while benefiting patients and supporting industry.

CM set out industry’s position: that the GDP target should be measured against net sales rather than the spend-based definition the government is currently planning to use, given its inclusion of VAT and other distribution costs. 

The amended 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth text, published on 2 June 2026, now includes the 15% ceiling for the remaining years of the scheme. Work is also progressing on baseline amendments so NICE methods-related spend as a result of UK-US arrangement commitments is not recouped through the scheme.

Action: DHSC to follow up with ABPI on how the baseline for the growth target should be defined.

VPAG baseline update methodology

David Barley (DB) explained that the current thinking is to develop a baseline adjustment system that is simple to implement and transparent for industry. The proposed approach could be based on existing modelling of the impact of the cost-effectiveness threshold and EQ-5D-5L, recognising that it will not be possible to measure the precise impact of these changes with complete accuracy.

There was broad agreement that DHSC and ABPI will need a shared view of the combined impact of the cost-effectiveness threshold and EQ-5D-5L. DHSC indicated that agreement on the baseline adjustment framework does not necessarily need to be contingent on revising the medicines spend forecast. An initial proposal for the framework is expected to be shared with companies in mid-August 2026. A separate timeline will be agreed for incorporating baseline adjustment numbers into the model used to calculate the 2027 rate.

Action: DHSC and ABPI to discuss the baseline adjustment in more detail at the dedicated meeting scheduled for the week commencing 27 July 2026.

Reflections on the joint taskforce sprint process

ABL noted that the joint taskforce process that was focused on newer medicines has now concluded. The US-UK Pharmaceuticals Agreement Oversight Committee met on 30 June 2026, where ministers discussed recommendations with industry. Government has communicated the resulting commitments and emphasised the collaborative nature of the process.

Commitments will be delivered through 4 routes:

• immediate pilots: 4 pilots on regional budgets, managed access, productivity in NICE health technology assessments (HTAs) and budget impact test commercial options
• research projects: independent research on wider societal value and a NICE HTA Lab project on rare disease valuation
• future scheme principles: principles have been agreed for the next scheme, covering growth, innovation, uptake, competition, investment links and a 7-year term
• bilateral engagement: government will work with companies on strategically important medicines, including flexible commercial and risk-sharing models

A formal biannual review process will be established to assess progress against medicines spend targets and consider whether further policy change is required. Annual monitoring of spend targets will continue, with interim discussions with industry where needed. The immediate priority is to finalise selection criteria for pilots and implementation planning, with pilots launching from September 2026.

It was asked whether there was a deadline for feeding in comments. ABL confirmed that there is no single deadline as each pilot has its own timeline and senior responsible owner. However, early engagement is encouraged, recognising that detailed implementation work is still being developed.

ABPI reiterated its thanks for the collaborative sprint process and noted that an all-industry webinar is being planned for August 2026. This will provide an opportunity for companies to engage with government and delivery partners once further detail is available.

Update on older medicines engagement and stocktake, including proposed workplan

Simon Roer (SR) provided an update on older medicines engagement since the stocktake. He noted that a stocktake exercise was held in November 2025 with trade associations to review preliminary data on the operation of the older products mechanism.

SR also noted that DHSC intends to reconvene the same broad group in September 2026 to review a refreshed version of the analysis. The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss issues raised during the November 2025 stocktake, without any commitment at this stage to changes to the scheme methodology or operation.

Three main areas of analysis that are being prioritised are:

• segmentation of payments: analysis of which types of products and companies fall within the minimum, maximum and tapering payment categories, including consideration of originators, new entrants, competition and biological or non-biological products
• innovation of older actives: analysis of whether and how the mechanism affects innovation involving older active substances, including formulation changes, repurposing and other patient-benefit innovations
• price dispersion and variation: further analysis of the extent to which trends differ across older medicines and whether the picture has changed since the preliminary November 2025 data

SR cautioned that the level of detail available would be limited by the data, particularly as scheme data only covers participating companies and products. Feedback and survey data from trade associations will therefore be important to contextualise patterns and trends.

It was asked whether repurposing and innovations with substantial patient benefit, where the commercial incentive may be weak, would be included. DHSC confirmed that this sits within the second analytical category, but noted the practical and technical challenges of defining and measuring this type of innovation.

Companies may be able to share case studies directly with government where they cannot share commercially sensitive information through trade associations. SR stated that case studies would be helpful, but would need to be handled carefully and with the minimum identifiable information necessary.

Pinchas Kahtan (PK) noted that ABPI’s own survey data and company groups could help interpret the analysis and suggested a detailed follow-up to define the specific questions to be explored before the September 2026 session.

Action: DHSC to arrange a more detailed follow-up discussion with ABPI to scope the questions for the September 2026 older medicines session.

Scheme metrics

Ishi Shrivastava (IS) presented the July 2026 metrics pack, which gives a shared view of scheme performance against access, affordability and growth objectives.

DHSC, ABPI, NICE, NHS England and OLS reviewed the draft pack on 9 July 2026. The main points were:

• incomplete Q1 2026 company data
• actual vs modelled older medicines payments
• NICE termination reporting
• adding longer-term NHS England commercial framework data

IS noted that most metrics remain stable. Product launches and new active substance launches are broadly in line with historic averages, VPAG membership has grown, and the voluntary scheme still covers most measured sales.

Newer medicines growth has slowed from around 14% at end-2024 to below 5% in incomplete Q1 2026 data, against a 6.8% forecast at time of negotiation.

IS highlighted to the group that Q1 2026 scheme payments fell compared with Q4 2025, reflecting the lower headline payment percentage for newer medicines and softer measured sales. Top-up payment data is actual for Q2 to Q4 2024 and modelled thereafter.

On innovation and access, new active substance sales are down from Q1 2025 but broadly in line with historic quarterly averages. NICE activity, pricing applications, PharmaScan records, commercial access arrangements and OLS growth metrics remain positive.

VJ raised concerns about NICE termination data, noting that limited 2026 to 2027 data should be clearly presented (an agreed amend at the metrics pre-meeting that has not yet been implemented) because the data is scrutinised as an indicator of launch impacts.

PK asked whether the metrics pack, or a version of it, could be published on GOV.UK. DHSC agreed to investigate the possibility.

Action: DHSC to update the NICE termination slides and summary wording in line with the previous pre-meeting discussion.

Action: MV to explore whether the operational review metrics pack, or a version of it, can be published on GOV.UK.

VPAG objective 2: promoting better patient outcomes

Update on access, adoption and outcomes commitments and change requests

A paper providing the latest position on chapter 3 commitments was circulated.

Claire Foreman (CF) set out a change request relating to the national local formulary minimum data set. This is one of the transparency data assets under the chapter 3 commitments in VPAG. The purpose is to provide better insight into local formulary inclusion and the speed of inclusion of new NICE recommendations, supporting assurance that access is being provided as intended under the NICE funding mandate.

Initial work with NHS England IT leads explored external commissioning for the work. However, the scale of variation in local formulary data collection made it difficult to achieve a reliable and consistent national data set through that route. NHS England’s IT advice is that the data reporting solution should be built in-house to meet the required standard.

The request is therefore to extend the deadline to January 2027 to allow the data set and reporting mechanism to be completed. The group noted that the work is relevant both as a standalone commitment and in the context of a single national formulary.

ABPI approved the change request, recognising that the extension will help ensure that the final output is useful and reliable.

A second change request was presented by Rosie Lovett (RL) on the timing of the consultation on the commercial framework. The original chapter 3 commitment included an initial consultation, which was completed on time, and a further substantive consultation, which is expected to launch in September 2026.

Following the joint taskforce process, NHS England proposed delaying the consultation launch to December 2026 so that the consultation can be comprehensive and supported by meaningful stakeholder engagement in the autumn. A September 2026 launch would require engagement activity during August 2026, which would be less effective.

The consultation is expected to bring together updates on the commercial framework, including primary care rebates. The consultation on managed access principles will also run at the same time (this includes a substantive policy change on reimbursement for existing patients where a product exits managed access following a negative NICE recommendation).

NHS England noted that, before formal policy implementation, it is open in principle to considering the proposed managed access change on a case-by-case basis for new entries, although existing contracts cannot be changed.

ABPI supported the revised timing, provided there is meaningful engagement throughout the autumn. ABPI suggested that the wider engagement should be broad enough to cover:

• taskforce outputs
• managed access updates
• horizon scanning and service preparedness
• primary care patient access schemes
• other outstanding issues from the previous commercial framework update

RL noted the request. NHS England will set out the proposed scope through the engagement process. 

VPAG objective 3: supporting UK economic growth

VPAG Investment Programme update and look ahead to spring 2026

Rory MacFarlane (RM) gave an update on the VPAG Investment Programme. The midpoint review required under the scheme terms has been completed and passed. Delivery partners, scheme members and trade associations contributed feedback as part of the review.

Feedback was generally positive on the programme’s impact across HTAs, manufacturing and clinical trials. The UK-wide approach was highlighted as a strength, combining central co-ordination with devolved nation strengths and competencies.

The main areas for improvement are:

• demonstrating outcomes now that the programme has reached the halfway point
• considering how funding for some programmes could be sustained beyond the current voluntary scheme

The next VPAG Investment Programme Board meeting is scheduled for 13 August 2026. This will be used to discuss the feedback in more detail and develop action plans.

ABPI welcomed the progress and noted that the first half of the programme was largely focused on establishing infrastructure. The focus should now shift towards measuring outcomes, such as:

• clinical trial activity
• recruitment
• collaboration between manufacturing innovation projects and companies

ABPI also noted that some metrics may not be driving the desired behaviours. For example, clinical trial metrics have focused on speed of set-up, but wider end-to-end trial delivery, including reliable recruitment and subsequent site set-up, also needs attention.

The group discussed whether outcome metrics and definitions of success are sufficiently clear. It was agreed that these should be considered at the next investment programme meeting.

Any other business

No further substantive business was raised. DS noted that several follow-up meetings are already scheduled over the next month and that there will be further opportunities to provide feedback.

The next operational review meeting is scheduled for 8 December 2026.

DS thanked attendees for their contributions and noted the continued strong collaboration across the work programme.