Roadmap for Medicines in Wales

ABPI Wales team and Life Science Hub in Wales have co-developed a Wales Roadmap which has become an 'encyclopaedia' of information on all aspects of innovative medicines engagement in Wales.

Wales Abpi Logos

Welsh Government

  • The Welsh Parliament (the Senedd established in 1999) is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people.

  • Devolved areas include health, education, economic development, transport, the environment, agriculture, local government and some taxes.

  • Following the May 2026 Senedd elections, Plaid Cymru is leading the Welsh Government as a minority administration, with party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth serving as First Minister. 
Wales Office 200X200

A Healthier Wales

A Heathier Wales is Wales's long-term health strategy, and was published in 2018. An updated plan was published in 2024.

  • Policy Direction
    • Shift from hospital treatment to focus on prevention, early diagnosis, and self-management.
    • Value-based & Prudent Healthcare: outcomes and system value over volume.

  • Implications for Medicines
    • Value and Evidence Focus: real-world outcomes, reduced hospital use, affordability.
    • Strong fit for precision medicine, oncology, advanced diagnostics.
    • Medicines optimisation and safer prescribing are priorities.

  • Partnership Opportunities
    • Ambition for broader deeper partnerships, new skills and ways of working.
    • Emphasis on pilots, evaluation, and scale-up across Wales.

Other Key Health Policies

  • Healthcare in Wales aims to align with principle of “Prudent Healthcare”. What this means for Industry Partners:

    • NHS Wales aims to reduce unnecessary and low-value prescribing and redirect resources to treatments that demonstrably improve outcomes.
    • Medicines must support “only do what is needed”. Prescribing scrutiny is increasing (especially antibiotics & repeats).
    • Outcomes that matter to patients carry more weight than activity alone.
    • Medicines that enable care closer to home, reduce outpatient burden, or support primary care are a priority.
    • Patients are framed as equal partners, with shared decisions replacing clinician-only choices.

  • The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act is a law that requires public bodies in Wales to consider the long-term impact of their decisions, aiming to improve social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being.
    • Pharmaceutical companies working in Wales must demonstrate that their medicines deliver long-term, preventative, and equitable value, helping NHS bodies meet their legal duties under the act, rather than driving short-term volume or activity. 

Wales Innovates

  • Wales Innovates is Wales’s innovation strategy.

  • Healthcare a key area, with a mission to develop a coherent innovation ecosystem where the health and social care sector collaborates with industry, academia and the third sector to deliver greater value and impact for citizens, the economy, and the environment.
    • Explicit invitation to partner: NHS Wales, industry and academia working together on system priorities.
    • Strong innovation pull: solutions that reduce backlogs, keep people out of hospital, and improve diagnostics & prevention.
    • Value expectation: outcomes, patient experience and system efficiency (PROMS, PREMS, resource use).
    • Key life science strengths: diagnostics, genomics, cancer, mental health, regenerative medicine.

NHS Wales Planning Framework

  • Welsh Government publish yearly guidance that sets out the strategic priorities that must be delivered by all NHS health boards in the next three years. The most recent guidance was published in 2025, and set out four broad areas of focus:
    • Timely Access to Care.
    • Population Health and Prevention.
    • Building Community Capacity.
    • Mental Health Access.
    • Women’s Health.

  • Each area is associated with key delivery expectations.