The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has implemented the new standard cost-effectiveness thresholds for technology appraisals, increasing the usual range from £20,000–£30,000 to £25,000–£35,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. The change applies immediately to new and ongoing medicines evaluations.
NICE announced on 2 April 2026 that its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies manual had been updated to reflect the government direction. Its independent appraisal committees will now apply the revised range when judging whether a medicine represents effective use of National Health Service (NHS) resources.
The move implements the threshold uplift NICE confirmed in December 2025, when it said the higher range would be introduced once the agency had the legal power to apply it. That power was provided through the March 2026 amendments allowing ministers to direct NICE on the standard threshold used in technology appraisal and highly specialised technology decisions.
NICE said it currently recommends 91% of the medicines it evaluates, equivalent to around 70 medicines a year. It estimates that the higher standard threshold could allow approval of an additional three to five new medicines or indications each year.
The practical effect will be concentrated in appraisals near the upper end of the previous range, particularly where uncertainty, unmet need or uncaptured benefits have affected committee judgement. The change does not remove the need for commercial arrangements, but it shifts the boundary within which evidence packages and net prices are judged acceptable. It should also affect ongoing negotiations where a product was close to the previous threshold but could now fall within the revised range.
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NICE
Link: Changes to NICE’s cost-effectiveness thresholds take effect
Date: 2 April 2026
