U.K. DoH gives NICE 'blueprint' on value-based pricing

The U.K. Department of Health gave NICE a "blueprint" for determining the value of a drug under the country's proposed value-based pricing (VBP) system, which is slated to take effect in January 2014. The department did not provide additional details, but said NICE will work with patient groups, NHS and industry on how to value drugs and said the blueprint is a framework for NICE to consider the benefit to patients and the "wider societal benefit," including the impact the drug can have on a person's "ability to work or contribute to the economy and society." Lord Howe, the U.K.'s health minister, noted that "a drug that brings a lot of extra benefits may justify the NHS paying more, but equally the NHS might pay less for a drug that does not deliver wider benefits."

NICE will be responsible for assessing new medicines under the VBP system, which will cover pricing for new drugs launched on or after January 1, 2014. The U.K. government has not yet provided many details of what the VBP system will look like, and the DoH and NICE have not yet made the blueprint public (see BioCentury, March 11). ...