Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling potential (a) shortages and (b) wholesale price increases of Amoxicillin.

The Department is working urgently with manufacturers and wholesalers to explore what can be done to expedite deliveries and bring forward stock they have to help ensure it gets to where it is needed, to meet demand as quickly as possible and support access to these vital medicines. Deliveries into wholesalers and pharmacies are being made with more expected in the coming days and weeks. We are working with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee at pace to review the concessionary price arrangement to see how it can be improved.

We rely on competition to drive down the wholesale prices of generic medicines resulting in lower prices for the National Health Service. England has one of the most competitive generic medicines markets in the Europe. Anti-competitive behaviour, including excessive pricing, is a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Department asks the CMA to investigate where it has concerns about abuses of competition law for generic medicines and where companies are found by the CMA to be in breach of the legislation, the Department will seek damages and invest that money back into the NHS. The CMA has publicly acknowledged the concerns about the price of antibiotics used to treat Step A and has been clear about companies’ obligations under the law. The CMA is currently working to establish the facts of what is currently happening in the market.