UK Seeks to Advance Cost-Effective Rare Disease Research, Allocates $340 Million to New Innovative Medicines Fund

The UK will expand its Cancer Drugs Fund by creating a new Innovative Medicines Fund. The fund will promote research into rare diseases. In recent years, pricy therapies for rare disease have entered the market, leading some countries to turn down effective therapies.

“The country spent years locked in an acrimonious battle with Vertex on their cystic fibrosis drugs and only in the last few months secured access to Novartis’ SMA gene therapy Zolgensma, often known simply as “the most expensive drug in the world.” Read more here.

(Source: Jason Mast, Endpoints News, 7/22/21)