From NICE Submission to NHS Patient Access: End-to-End Market Access and Government Affairs Support for a First-in-Class Brain Cancer Treatment
.jpg)
Snapshot
At a glance
A global pharmaceutical company retained Newmarket Strategy across a 27-month programme to secure NHS access for a first-in-class therapeutic for a rare brain cancer affecting predominantly young adults, with no new treatment options for over 20 years. Our integrated Market Access and Government Affairs support spanned pre-NICE submission through to post-recommendation, culminating in a positive NICE technology appraisal recommendation at a commercially viable price, securing access to a life-changing treatment for patients.
Client
A global pharmaceutical company seeking to launch a first-in-class oral treatment for a rare, slow-growing brain tumour into the NHS with no established treatment pathway.
Challenge
The client needed support to navigate a NICE technology appraisal under significant clinical, commercial, and political scrutiny, whilst simultaneously building system-level readiness for rapid NHS adoption in a disease area that had attracted sustained parliamentary attention but delivered no meaningful therapeutic progress in over two decades.
Support
Newmarket delivered two sequential retainers totalling 27 months, drawing on in-house expertise in HTA and commercial strategy, including partners with direct experience of NICE appraisal committee dynamics who reviewed the submission and provided hands-on support at every stage of the appraisal, a Chief Clinical Adviser who served as National Clinical Lead for the Cancer Drugs Fund who brought insight into how committees evaluate oncology evidence, and former NHS England commercial leaders with first-hand knowledge of what a viable deal looks like, who guided the client through both internal global price negotiations and external engagement with NHS England. Collectively furnishing the client with the access strategy needed to successfully launch in England and secure patient access.
Outcome
The client received a positive NICE recommendation at a commercially viable price, with NHS system readiness secured, meaning eligible patients could access the treatment without delay.
The challenge
A Politically Charged HTA Process in an Indication With No Established NHS Pathway
Brain cancer presented an unusually complex access environment. The absence of any licensed treatment for over 20 years had created fragmentation across the clinical, patient, and policy communities, with deep scepticism about the prospects for new therapies. Brain cancer simultaneously carried exceptional political salience sustained by high-profile parliamentary advocates and patient groups, yet effective NHS pathways for new treatments remained largely absent.
The client was entering a NICE single technology appraisal with a novel mechanism of action, limited real-world HTA precedent, and a patient population defined by younger age and longer treatment horizons, factors that created specific challenges around QALY modelling, severity weighting, and long-term cost-effectiveness assumptions.
Compounding this, the client's UK team needed to secure internal global sign-off on a price that could satisfy expectations whilst remaining viable for the business, a negotiation that required a clear, evidence-based commercial rationale.
Our approach
A Phased, Milestone-Driven Programme Spanning HTA, Commercial Negotiation, and Government Affairs
Newmarket structured the engagement around the key milestones of the NICE appraisal process. Ahead of submission, we reviewed the clinical evidence base, produced a SWOT assessment, mapped HTA analogues, and provided strategic counsel on how to frame and structure the economic case. Throughout the appraisal, our senior HTA advisers provided hands-on support at every stage, preparing the team ahead of committee meetings, inputting directly into company responses to ensure communications reinforced the overall value narrative. Alongside this, we drew on our direct experience of NHS England's commercial decision-making to conduct price sensitivity analysis and equip the UK team with the evidence base needed to secure global sign-off on a viable price. Our parallel Government Affairs programme encompassed a policy white paper on NHS system readiness, a parliamentary roundtable and phased stakeholder engagement.
The outcome
