Liothyronine

(asked on 9th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reducing the price charged for Liothyronine (T3).


Answered by
Lord Bethell Portrait
Lord Bethell
This question was answered on 17th February 2021

Liothyronine is an unbranded generic medicine. The Department relies on competition between suppliers of unbranded generic medicines to keep prices down. Concerns about potential drug pricing abuses are a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). With regards to liothyronine, in 2016 the CMA opened its investigation into allegations that the National Health Service was charged excessive and unfair prices for liothyronine by Advanz. In July 2020 it issued a supplementary statement of objections stating that the CMA continues provisionally to find that Advanz breached United Kingdom and European Union competition law from at least 1 January 2009 to at least 31 July 2017 by charging excessive and unfair prices for liothyronine in the UK.

Liothyronine was previously a single source generic product. However, several marketing authorisations have been granted for liothyronine since 2016 and the reimbursement price has slowly been reducing as a direct response to more competition in the market.

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