In the UK, pharmaceutical companies have launched “money back guarantees” for expensive treatments of rare diseases. With this new setup, drug companies are responsible for high success rates of certain treatments for rare medical illnesses. If the drug does not live up to what it claims to do, then pharmaceutical companies are responsible for all patient costs. The first “money back guarantee” deal in the UK was approved in 2002 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, where the price of treatment drugs was dependent on the outcome of the treatment. In 2007, the National Health Service (NHS) partnered with Johnson & Johnson for a “risk-sharing agreement,” in which the NHS would pay for treatment if the patient had a partial or complete response to the medication—if not, Johnson & Johnson was responsible for all costs. With the advent of advanced technologies for rare diseases, this practice is predicted to become much more common in the UK.

Source: The Telegraph