Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to negotiate a reduction of the cost of liothyronine (T3) for use in primary care.

Liothyronine is an unbranded generic medicine. The Department encourages competition between suppliers of unbranded generic medicines to keep prices down. This generally works well and has led to some of the lowest prices in Europe.

Concerns about anti-competitive behaviour are a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate. Liothyronine, marketed by Concordia, is currently the subject of an investigation by the CMA, which has provisionally found that Concordia abused its dominant position to overcharge the National Health Service by millions for liothyronine tablets. A provisional decision does not necessarily lead to an infringement decision. Where companies have breached competition law, the Department will seek damages and invest that money back into the NHS.

The Department also has its own powers to limit prices of unbranded generic medicines and will consult early in 2019 with the relevant industry bodies on implementation of those powers.