NHS England secures long-term access to two SMA therapies for children
Nusinersen and risdiplam will be routinely available on the NHS in England following an evidence-collection access scheme, giving families with spinal muscular atrophy long-term certainty.
NHS England announced on 13 May 2026 that two treatments for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — nusinersen (Spinraza) and risdiplam (Evrysdi) — will become routinely available on the NHS in England. Both medicines had previously been offered under a managed access scheme designed to gather real-world evidence. The transition to routine commissioning means that hundreds of families can plan around continued access, rather than facing periodic reappraisal uncertainty.
SMA is caused by pathogenic variants in the SMN1 gene and leads to progressive loss of motor neurone function. Nusinersen is an antisense oligonucleotide that modulates splicing of the SMN2 gene to increase production of functional SMN protein; risdiplam works through a similar mechanism but is administered orally. Both have demonstrated clinical benefit across a range of SMA types, including in children who are pre-symptomatic at diagnosis.
NHS England stated that the decision could enable more children to attend mainstream primary school and to live significantly longer. The announcement is relevant to genetic counsellors and paediatricians supporting families affected by SMA, and to researchers tracking real-world outcomes data from these therapies.
Newborn bloodspot screening for SMA was introduced in parts of England in recent years, and expanded access to these treatments is closely tied to the clinical pathway that follows early genetic identification of affected infants.
Plain-language version
For patients, families, and general readers. Educational only — not medical advice.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic condition that weakens muscles because of a fault in a gene called SMN1. Two medicines — nusinersen and risdiplam — that help compensate for this fault will now be available on the NHS in England on a long-term basis, rather than through a time-limited trial scheme. Researchers and clinicians say this gives hundreds of families greater certainty about ongoing treatment. Both medicines work by encouraging the body to use a related gene, SMN2, to make more of the protein that SMA patients are missing. NHS England says children who start treatment early may be able to attend mainstream school and live longer than was previously expected. This is an educational summary, not medical advice. If anything here raises questions for you, please speak with your GP or a clinical professional.
Sources
Read the original reporting — these are the public sources this summary draws from.
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Primary source NHS England · 2026-05-13"Life-changing" SMA therapies to be available on NHS in long-term