New report puts forward recommendations aimed at speeding up access to innovative dementia medicines

Accelerated Access Review: Final Report. Review of innovative medicines and medical technologies (2016)

A new report published by the government today (24 October), puts forward a number of recommendations aimed at speeding up the process by which the NHS implements newly developed drugs and medical procedures. Dementia appears in the Accelerated Access Review: Final Report as a case study, given the likelihood of new treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s coming through final stage clinical testing in the coming years. The report highlights the work of Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in looking for an integrated solution to the drug development challenges in dementia.

The review recommends the creation of an Accelerated Access Partnership to speed up the translation of new treatments from the lab to patients. The report also highlights the need for simple processes for the development and implementation of digital technologies, such as healthcare apps, and suggests that a Strategic Commercial Unit be created within NHS England to work with innovators who are developing new medicines.

Hilary Evans, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

The Accelerated Access Review provides an ambitious blueprint for a new era of rapid adoption of innovative treatments. This Review comes at a crucial time for the 850,000 people with dementia, as trials of a number of potential treatments are due to report results soon. If these are shown to be positive then the recommendations in this report, including the creation of a new Strategic Commercial Unit, could help these treatments get to patients more rapidly, while ensuring that appropriate reimbursement to innovators is balanced against good value to the NHS.

We urge the government to consider these proposals carefully and work with patients, charities and innovators to implement the best of the recommendations. It can often take many years from the point at which a treatment is shown to be effective to actually reaching patients. If we want a truly world class NHS that is a hotbed for drug development and the highest quality care, then we need to accelerate this process. Alzheimer’s Research UK will be working hard to ensure these recommendations will work to speed up access to future dementia treatments.