Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 4 March (HL13668), what comparison they have made of the cost of Liothyronine (T3) in (1) the UK, and (2) EU member states; and what assessment they have made of any such comparison.

The Department has made no such comparison or assessment. All United Kingdom marketing authorisation holders of liothyronine are obliged to ensure that the product complies with the minimum standard as specified in the British Pharmacopoeia monograph for liothyronine tablets. Liothyronine on the market in European Union Member States may not comply with the updated British Pharmacopoeia monograph and therefore would not be considered therapeutically equivalent. Therefore, price comparisons would not be ‘like for like’.

In the UK, several marketing authorisations have been granted for liothyronine since 2016 and the reimbursement price has slowly been reducing as a direct response to more competition in the market.