Early Access to Medicines Scheme announced

The government has today announced a new scheme which aims to give patients with life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions access to medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation.

Dr Ian Hudson, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said:

"We are delighted that the Early Access to Medicines Scheme will be launched in April 2014. The scheme is intended to enable patient access to medicines for treatment of life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions where there is an unmet need. This is a major new development in medicines policy in the UK.

"The scheme offers a way by which unlicensed medicines can be available to patients before approval of a licence to benefit public health. It will also enable companies to gain additional knowledge and experience of these medicines in clinical use."

Find out more about the Early Access to Medicines Scheme