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NHS patients could get access to “cutting-edge” medicines months earlier under pilots announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
On 2 July 2026, the DHSC announced that it had developed a “series of pioneering pilots designed to speed up and improve the fairness of how new treatments reach patients”.
It added that the pilots have been developed under a joint taskforce of government, pharmaceutical industry and NHS representatives.
“They will begin testing new approaches to medicines pricing, access and adoption as early as this September,” the DHSC said.
It noted that one pilot will look at how innovative treatments, including rare disease therapies, that have already met safety, quality and clinical standards can be given to NHS patients more quickly, while another will look at allowing companies to co-invest in screening, testing and the “full care journey of patients” to enable the NHS to offer treatments as soon as they are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Another pilot involves dedicated regional funding to improve patient access to priority medicines, the DHSC continued.
The government said the pilots support commitments agreed in the US–UK pharmaceutical trade deal, which includes an agreement to double innovative medicines spending from 0.3% to 0.6% of GDP over the next decade.
It added that the pilots build on changes made to NICE’s cost-effective threshold in April 2026, “which have already led to nine additional medicines being approved for NHS patients in England and Wales”.
The new thresholds allow the NHS to spend £25,000–£35,000 per quality adjusted life year gained by using a new drug, compared with the previous thresholds of between £20,000 and £30,000.
At the time, NICE said the changes would allow for an additional three to five medicines to be approved for use on the NHS in England and Wales each year.
In its announcement, the government said nine additional medicines had already been approved since the changes.
“These approvals span a range of serious and life-limiting conditions, including blood disorders, autoimmune diseases and several cancers, including brain tumours, that could affect young children and advanced stomach cancers for people with limited treatment options,” it said.
The government added that the pilots, coupled with the cost-effectiveness changes, “could give thousands of patients faster access to potentially life-changing medicines”.
Science minister Lord Vallance commented: “We are in an era of rapid advances in new preventative measures, treatments and even cures. We have a responsibility to get the most important of these into the hands of doctors and patients as quickly as possible. These pilots will help us do exactly that.”
Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: “The measures … are the product of intensive and focused effort between industry and government to ensure NHS patients get the medicines they need. While there is more work to be done, today’s news represents an important step on the path to achieving our shared goal of making the UK a world-leading environment for patient access and life sciences investment.
“We have already seen industry respond positively to the government’s commitment earlier this year to increase investment in innovative medicines. I hope that these delivery measures continue to build investor confidence and enable us to make further progress together.”
