Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 6 March (HL5937), why the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) request for referral of 8 June is described as for “referral of Evusheld for treatment of COVID-19” but, as confirmed in a NICE freedom of information response, the request was for “referral of tixagevimab-cilgavimab for preventing COVID-19 [ID6136] on 8 June 2022”, causing delay to the possibility of a decision at a time when the preventative prophylaxis Evusheld was highly efficacious.

The request made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to the Department on 8 June 2022 was for the referral of Evusheld for the treatment of COVID-19 for inclusion into its multiple technology appraisal on therapeutics for COVID-19, not Evusheld for prevention. I understand from NICE that an error was made in its response to the freedom of information request, and that a correction will be issued accordingly. I apologise that this happened.