Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62444 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, what steps his Department is taking to encourage an increase in the number of market authorisation holders for dosage counters for emergency inhalers.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has not taken steps to increase the number of marketing authorisation holders for short-acting beta agonist pressurised metered-dose inhalers with integrated dose counters. As the United Kingdom’s independent regulator for medicines and medical devices, the MHRA promotes patient safety and supports improvements in product design but does not have the remit to direct or influence the commercial decisions of pharmaceutical companies. The MHRA can provide scientific and regulatory advice to support potential new entrants to the market, but cannot compel or incentivise companies to apply for marketing authorisation for specific products.