Supporting NHS England on the Voluntary Pricing And Growth (VPAG) four year settlement

The VPAG is the overarching agreement for supply of medicines to the NHS across the UK. The parties to the agreement are the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Blake Morgan has advised NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit (now Medicines Procurement and Supply Chain) for six years. We understand the twin goals of sustainable medicine supply and supporting the UK’s life sciences sector as a driver of innovation and economic growth. We have supported NHS England in all aspects of its involvement in negotiating, drafting and implementing the new VPAG agreement which took effect from January 2024. VPAG will secure twice the level of savings of the scheme which it replaces, amounting to some £14bn in savings. Innovations under VPAG include separate affordability mechanisms for older and newer medicines, incentivising the uptake of innovative new treatments. There is also a commitment from the pharmaceutical industry to invest £400m over five years in a Life Sciences Investment Programme to support UK capabilities in clinical trials, medicines manufacturing and health technology assessment.

This is matched by a series of commitment to be delivered by NHS England including measures to promote equitable access to new medicines, clarification of routes to market for suppliers and innovative approaches to assessing the value of medicines. Following signature of the VPAG agreement, we continue to support NHS England on the implementation of these commitments.