Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason her Department included branded (a) generic and (b) biosimilar medicines that delivered savings to the NHS within the current voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access scheme.

Medicines which are required to be prescribed by brand name, including some branded generics and biosimilars, are not interchangeable. Therefore, competitive forces will not act in the same way as for generic medicines and price regulation is justified. The inclusion of these medicines in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access was agreed with industry in 2019.