Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the geographic differences in the cost of abiraterone for high-risk prostate cancer patients in England.

The procurement of abiraterone for secondary care is currently part of NHS England’s generic wave tender structure. NHS England tenders two regions out of six at a time to encourage competition and to ensure supply chain resilience, awarding the top two compliant suppliers onto the framework each time. Prices may vary between regions, but within NHS England’s terms and conditions there is a price review mechanism whereby any price changes can be matched/applied in other regions. Also, within the tender there is a price limiter criterion which is applied so that only bids that are in line with market norms will be compliant.