Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of funding for research into methods for (a) treating and (b) curing Trimethylaminuria.

No specific assessment has been made. The Department funds the majority of research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). While the NIHR has not funded any studies into the treatment and cure of trimethylaminuria in the last five years, it has supported the delivery of two such studies via its infrastructure.

The NIHR’s expenditure on research is more than £1 billion per year, with research proposals competing for the funding available. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.