Faster access to drugs to be received by NHS patients with cancer

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

NHS patients are set to receive new drugs and technologies before they have actually cleared any full clinical trial as part of a multi million pound strategy in order to support the UK’s life sciences industry.

Earlier this month the government announced their plans for an all new early access scheme, which will be aimed at helping areas where treatments are urgently needed, such as lung and brain cancer.

A £180 million fund to help medical breakthroughs in the country to become British companies, tackling the funding gap that is dubbed “the valley of death” is also a part of the new plans.

There will also be life saving equipment delivered to three million homes over the next five years, this will incorporate the very latest technology to allow at-risk patients to send vital information and statistics to their doctors.

The strategy aims to bring the country's science base together with the NHS, to make the UK an attractive place for companies to invest in the discovery, development and commercialisation of medical innovations.
Britain's life science industry is currently the third largest contributor to economic growth in the UK and includes more than 4,000 companies, with a total annual turnover of over £50 billion.

Prime minister David Cameron says: "We must ensure that the UK stays ahead, yes, we've got a leading science base, we've got four of the world's top ten universities, and, we have a National Health Service unlike any other.
"But these strengths alone are not enough to keep pace with what's happening – we've got to change radically - the way we innovate, the way we collaborate, the way we open up the NHS. I want the great discoveries of the next decade happening in British labs, the new technologies born in British start-ups."