Ipsen strongly supports the overarching mission and purpose of the Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) and believe the initiative has enormous potential to help enable faster access to new emerging therapies in the future. If certain issues are resolved and clarified, the pathway could stand to support the Government’s broader life science objectives and help the UK maintain a competitive footing on an international stage – which is vitally important in a post-Brexit context.
In February 2022, Ipsen submitted their response to NHS England & Improvement (NHSE&I) and NICE consultation on proposals for the IMF.
The IMF aims to improve patient access by fast-tracking promising new medicines, including those for rare diseases. It extends the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) model, which helped more cancer patients have faster access to treatments. Ipsen asked NHSE&I to evolve from this model and to learn from the CDF, as whilst the CDF has been undeniably successful for cancer medicines, the IMF will inevitably end up enabling access to a number of new rare disease medicines. These rare diseases are often poorly understood with small patient populations and are commonly associated with very long-term clinical uncertainty. We support the notion that the IMF will create a more “level” playing field for non-cancer drugs and that the implementation will provide distinct opportunities for therapies in a broader range of diseases.
You can read Ipsen’s full response here.
CRSC-GB-000007
August 2022