Sally Gainsbury
@sallygainsbury.bsky.social
Senior Policy Analyst for the Nuffield Trust, writing and doing whatever-things-on-here-are-called about NHS funding, finance and healthcare equity
also this older piece here silo.tips/download/key...
[PDF] Key Factors in Attracting Internationally Mobile Investments by the Research- - Free Download PDF
1 21 st September 2007 Key Factors in Attracting Internationally Mobile Investments by the Research- Based Pharmaceutica...
silo.tips
October 8, 2025 at 3:57 PM
also this older piece here silo.tips/download/key...
see p50 (printed p50, not pdf p50...) here efpia.eu/media/676753...
efpia.eu
October 8, 2025 at 3:56 PM
see p50 (printed p50, not pdf p50...) here efpia.eu/media/676753...
Patent protections mean pharma cos can set prices high. The VPAG agreement at the centre of the row offers the NHS a modest counterbalance against those high prices when sales volumes exceed expectations and already contains exemptions to allow companies to recoup their R&D costs
October 8, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Patent protections mean pharma cos can set prices high. The VPAG agreement at the centre of the row offers the NHS a modest counterbalance against those high prices when sales volumes exceed expectations and already contains exemptions to allow companies to recoup their R&D costs
There is mounting evidence that rather than being “too low” the NICE threshold (the max the NHS will pay for a yr of health gained through a drug) is currently too high as it outstrips how much health could be gained if the £ was spent instead on extending existing services >
October 8, 2025 at 2:53 PM
There is mounting evidence that rather than being “too low” the NICE threshold (the max the NHS will pay for a yr of health gained through a drug) is currently too high as it outstrips how much health could be gained if the £ was spent instead on extending existing services >
Key points: Big pharma’s threat to pull investment from the UK if the NHS doesn’t pay more is based on politics, not economics. Industry’s own research shows that decisions on R&D location are driven by where you can do good science, not local market prices for the end product >
October 8, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Key points: Big pharma’s threat to pull investment from the UK if the NHS doesn’t pay more is based on politics, not economics. Industry’s own research shows that decisions on R&D location are driven by where you can do good science, not local market prices for the end product >
interesting. I wonder if the catch up at 16 seen in the overall dashed ECHP line is a genuine improvement in outcomes, or rather a widening of who is included in that cohort to include those whose edu outcomes were higher/likely to be slightly higher already?
October 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
interesting. I wonder if the catch up at 16 seen in the overall dashed ECHP line is a genuine improvement in outcomes, or rather a widening of who is included in that cohort to include those whose edu outcomes were higher/likely to be slightly higher already?
this is really interesting Luke, thank you. It seems to suggest that educational outcomes (measured by the standardised score) have improved since ~2015 for the older kids on ECHPs, but declined for the younger. Or am I misinterpreting that?
October 3, 2025 at 1:51 PM
this is really interesting Luke, thank you. It seems to suggest that educational outcomes (measured by the standardised score) have improved since ~2015 for the older kids on ECHPs, but declined for the younger. Or am I misinterpreting that?
For more on the background to the dispute with the pharma industry, see www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/tr... ENDS
Trump, medicines and the NHS
Following recent press speculation that the UK may soon agree to pay more for drugs used within the NHS as part of a trade deal with the USA, we spoke to Mark Dayan and Sally Gainsbury to discuss the ...
www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
For more on the background to the dispute with the pharma industry, see www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/tr... ENDS
But the gov hasn’t made things easy for itself with its rhetoric around the NHS as an engine of economic growth (rather than the quaint notion it is there to improve our health)>>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
But the gov hasn’t made things easy for itself with its rhetoric around the NHS as an engine of economic growth (rather than the quaint notion it is there to improve our health)>>
If the gov pays more for new medicines, we are highly likely to get LESS health benefit out of the NHS, not more. It’s right the gov holds firm and considers population-wide health needs rather than bow to industry threats and scare stories >>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
If the gov pays more for new medicines, we are highly likely to get LESS health benefit out of the NHS, not more. It’s right the gov holds firm and considers population-wide health needs rather than bow to industry threats and scare stories >>
For a summary, see www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...
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expert reaction to study looking at population health displacement versus benefits of new drugs recommended by NICE / the NHS in England during 2000–20 | Science Media Centre
www.sciencemediacentre.org
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
For a summary, see www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...
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It’s correct the £30k threshold has been in place since the late 1990s, but ample economic research shows it is likely too high rather than too low >>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
It’s correct the £30k threshold has been in place since the late 1990s, but ample economic research shows it is likely too high rather than too low >>
This isn’t penny pinching: the threshold exists in order to ensure expensive new drugs don’t displace pre-existing treatments, because the nhs can only spend its budget once >>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
This isn’t penny pinching: the threshold exists in order to ensure expensive new drugs don’t displace pre-existing treatments, because the nhs can only spend its budget once >>
Sometimes new drugs fail that test simply because they are very expensive. Other times they fail because their price might be modest, but the health improvements they offer above already existing treatments are extremely marginal >>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Sometimes new drugs fail that test simply because they are very expensive. Other times they fail because their price might be modest, but the health improvements they offer above already existing treatments are extremely marginal >>
The nhs (via NICE) generally requires that for a new drug to be adopted, the extra health benefits it brings should not add more than £30k above existing treatments for that disease >>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The nhs (via NICE) generally requires that for a new drug to be adopted, the extra health benefits it brings should not add more than £30k above existing treatments for that disease >>
More on that here www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/an...
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An engine for economic growth? Why it won’t be a piece of cake for the NHS
With the newly published Life Sciences Sector Plan coming soon after the 10 Year Health Plan for England, Sally Gainsbury reflects on the government’s gamble on the NHS as a driver of economic growth ...
www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
More on that here www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/an...
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The 10 year nhs plan already sets out a terrifying raft of concessions to pharma and med tech to try and convince them to invest in the uk to feed the political addiction to economic growth >>
August 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The 10 year nhs plan already sets out a terrifying raft of concessions to pharma and med tech to try and convince them to invest in the uk to feed the political addiction to economic growth >>