Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Liothyronine (T3) is purchased at a cost in line with other EU countries.

All United Kingdom marketing authorisation holders of liothyronine are obliged to ensure that the product complies with the minimum standard as specified in the updated British Pharmacopoeia monograph for liothyronine tablets. Liothyronine on the market in other European Union Member States may not comply with the updated British Pharmacopoeia monograph and therefore would not be considered therapeutically equivalent.

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 Advanz Pharma (formerly Concordia), is currently the subject of an investigation by the CMA. The CMA has provisionally found that the company abused its dominant position to overcharge the National Health Service by millions of pounds 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.