Companies granted extension to VPAG 2026 decision deadline

The ABPI and the government have agreed to a four-week extension to the deadline by which companies must give notice if they intend to leave the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (VPAG).

The revised deadline for submitting notice to leave the VPAG scheme is 31 October 2025.

This change has been agreed upon to give companies more time to consider their decisions in the context of ongoing global uncertainty affecting the life sciences sector.

Before this change, companies that wanted to leave the 2024 voluntary scheme had to give notice by the end of September. The new deadline reduces the minimum notice period from three months to two months.

If a company signals its intent to leave VPAG at any time before the new 31 October date, it cannot change its mind. Once this date has passed, any companies that did not give notice to leave must remain in the scheme for all of 2026. If companies choose to leave the VPAG, they will be subject to the Statutory Scheme for branded medicines.

A similar extension was implemented in 2024 in response to the planned timing for the publication of the statutory scheme consultation response. However, the change to this year's deadline should be considered entirely separate and does not affect future years of VPAG.