For UK pharmaceutical and life sciences leaders
NICE approved your medicine, yet commissioners are still not funding it
Approval clears one hurdle. Formulary inclusion, local commissioning decisions, and prescribing inertia create the rest. Patients are asking; the funding is not following.
Two minutes. Solva follows up with specific market access options.
- NICE-approved medicines sitting on formularies but rarely prescribed
- Patients asking for specific treatments but being told they are not available locally
- Significant regional variations in the uptake of new medicines across the UK
- Pharmaceutical sales teams struggling to meet targets despite national approval
- Inefficient resource allocation within pharmaceutical companies due to unpredictable market access
- Strain on NHS services as patients seek alternative or delayed care
- Loss of potential revenue for pharmaceutical companies in the UK market
- Reduced investment in UK life sciences R&D, impacting future innovation
- Delayed or denied access to life-changing treatments for patients
- Worsening of patient conditions due to lack of optimal therapy
- Damage to the UK's reputation as a leader in life sciences and pharmaceutical innovation
- Erosion of trust between pharmaceutical companies and the NHS/government
In the last five years (2019-2024), around a fifth of the NICE work programme has been terminated, a 100% increase since the preceding five-year period, meaning NHS patients are not able to access those medicines for their condition. (ABPI, 2025)
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
NICE approval is necessary but not sufficient for NHS access. Commissioning decisions, formulary inclusion, and prescribing behaviour all create additional barriers between approval and patient access. Most pharma companies underestimate these post-approval barriers.
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
The UK could lose out on £11 billion in pharmaceuticals research and development (R&D) investment by 2033 due to high and unpredictable medicines sales clawbacks. (WPI Economics, 2025)
This is exactly what I do with UK private practices. Answer the few questions above and I'll come back personally with where to start. Paul.