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A taskforce has been set up by government and industry to consider new ideas to increase access to medicines in the UK, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has confirmed.
In a statement published on 25 March 2026, the ABPI said the project will cover ideas to strengthen UK competitiveness, inward investment and economic growth, develop concepts that could improve patient access to and uptake of innovative medicines, and how these ideas could be piloted, delivered and measured in practice.
As well as involving the government and the pharmaceutical industry, the statement said the project will include other organisations such as NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and charitable and patient groups.
A spokesperson for the ABPI added that the taskforce will also look at the pricing of individual medicines, overall spending and market size, as well as the breadth and speed of uptake of new medicines in the health service.
“This process will not replace the formal voluntary scheme negotiations, which are expected to commence in 2027 and conclude in 2028, but will act as a precursor to developing options for a future scheme and to examining the broader medicines pricing system,” the statement said.
In addition, the statement noted that the sprint process was developed to accelerate progress towards the government’s ambitions for the UK to be the third-most important life science economy by 2035.
Commenting on the initiative, Mark Samuels, chief executive of Medicines UK, which represents generic medicines manufacturers, told The Pharmaceutical Journal: “We welcome and support the government’s desire to engage with the pharmaceutical industry in shaping a viable and attractive commercial environment.
“The UK must compete with other countries for medicines stock due to the finite manufacturing capacity globally. Thus, the sector needs a pricing environment that does not disadvantage the UK.
“We are directly engaging with the government on its stated objective to make the UK a world-class destination for off-patent medicines.”
NHS medicines spending has come under scrutiny in the past year. In February 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care said it will increase funding for new medicines by £1bn over the next three years.
On 4 March 2026, the National Institute for Health and Care Research said that almost £50m from income generated by the Voluntary Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth levy will be used to expand NHS clinical trials.
