The UK government has agreed formal economic-growth goals with NICE and the MHRA, converting several existing life-sciences reforms into measurable performance commitments. For market access, the most specific targets concern the speed of NICE appraisal and closer alignment between regulatory approval and reimbursement guidance.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will aim to complete 60% of medicine technology appraisals within 240 working days of inviting companies to participate, compared with 40% in 2024/25. It will also seek to reduce the average interval between MHRA approval and NICE guidance by at least three months, with a six-month stretch target, following introduction of the aligned regulatory and HTA pathway in April 2026.
NICE will also apply a more active lifecycle approach to existing recommendations. It will review medicine guidance where generic or biosimilar entry could allow treated populations to expand, linking loss of exclusivity with reconsideration of funded use and clinical pathways.
Evidence methods form another part of the programme. By the end of 2026/27, NICE plans to issue guidance to life-sciences companies on using artificial intelligence in evidence synthesis and cost-effectiveness modelling.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has parallel performance goals. These include determining 95% of national-route medicines licensing decisions within 210 days and introducing a more detailed performance dashboard. A new MHRA 2030 strategy is due by September 2026.
The goals place measurable delivery expectations around reforms already under way across regulatory approval, HTA and adoption. The NICE targets are particularly relevant to launch planning because they provide explicit benchmarks for appraisal duration and regulatory-HTA alignment, while the lifecycle commitment may also broaden access to established treatments as prices fall after generic or biosimilar entry.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
Link: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE economic growth goals
Link: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency MHRA economic growth goals
Date: 8 July 2026
