Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make a comparative estimate of the annual savings that (a) unbranded generic, (b) branded generic and (c) biosimilar medicines have contributed to the NHS drug bill compared to branded prices had those medicines not been available for each year since 2012 for which data is available.

The current Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access expenditure forecast assumes that average spend at patent expiry will decrease by 70% for a non-biologic medicine or 45% for a biologic medicine. The Secretary of State has also commissioned further policy advice on this matter. These assumptions will be reviewed ahead of the negotiation of a new Scheme.