Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how NHS processes for the purchase of medicines are taken into account in decisions of allocating funding for research and development in life sciences; and if he will make a statement.

Researchers applying for funding from the Department are expected to seek best value when obtaining any medicines required for their research. This may be through existing National Health Service medicines procurement processes, or they may seek donations, or additional discounts direct from pharmaceutical suppliers if this delivers better value.