NICE have announced the introduction of a new service, the Office for Market Access (OMA), which will work with industry to speed up adoption of new medicines, devices and diagnostics by the NHS. The OMA will give commercial stakeholders access to a dedicated team at NICE who they can approach for enquiries relating to health technology evaluation.
All stakeholders who make an enquiry with the OMA team will be offered an initial meeting, free of charge, to discuss their needs. Thereafter, stakeholders will be able to access a range of fee-based services designed to help tackle common challenges in getting access on the NHS. The system is similar to the US Food and Drug Administration’s system, in which stakeholders can pay to speed up the review process, without altering the required medical standards for approval.
The launch of the OMA was welcomed by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). Paul Catchpole, ABPI’s Director of Value and Access, said: “Any initiative that strengthens relationships and delivers earlier, more frequent and meaningful dialogue between the life sciences industry, regulators, NICE and the NHS can only help speed up and improve the adoption and use of innovative medicines for NHS patients.”
More information about the OMA can be found here.
