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Plans for a National Pharmaceutical Agency in Scotland are on hold, the Scottish government has confirmed to The Pharmaceutical Journal.
The agency was first proposed in the Scottish National Party manifesto, ahead of parliamentary elections in 2021, when it said the organisation would oversee medicines supply chains and manufacture medicines “where necessary”.
In May 2023, Jenni Minto, minister for public health and women’s health for Scotland told The Pharmaceutical Journal that creation of the agency was “currently in the scoping phase”, adding that the government was committed to developing the agency “to improve links between the life sciences industry and the NHS, and ultimately improve patient care”.
Minto’s comments in 2023 followed the publication of a response to a freedom of information request by the Scottish government in October 2022, which said the agency could “assist in securing safe and high-quality medicines, at the most cost-effective price possible” and may have included “establishing expanded manufacturing capabilities for both generic medicines and ‘specials’”.
“The NHS National Pharmaceutical Agency offers the potential to connect all our existing organisations and functions to form an ecosystem from medicine manufacture and clinical trials through to adoption of new medicines and their ongoing surveillance,” the response added.
However, the Scottish government has now confirmed to The Pharmaceutical Journal that the scoping phase was paused before completion and added that it could not confirm next steps for development of the agency.
In a statement made to The Pharmaceutical Journal in September 2024, Minto said: “It’s crucial that patients in Scotland can safely access the most clinically and cost-effective medicines, as quickly as possible.
“We are working with pharmaceutical partners across the UK on a range of measures to improve access to medicines, including the ‘Voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth’ (VPAG) investment programme. This will support our NHS to rapidly deliver truly innovative medicines and therapeutics to the people of Scotland.”
The Department of Health and Social Care launched the VPAG in August 2024, which is worth £400m over five years, to expand the UK’s capacity for clinical trials.
As part of the programme, up to 18 new ‘Commercial Research Delivery Centres’ will be established across the UK to help support patient recruitment into trials, with funding coming from pharmaceutical companies that are signed up to the VPAG.
