Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the procurement exercises for hepatitis C medicines have resulted in lower costs to the NHS of hepatitis C medicines than those costs which informed the guidance set out in technology appraisals 363, 364 and 365 published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

The Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit manages, on behalf of English National Health Service secondary care, a tender strategy which establishes framework agreements for hepatitis C medicines under which prices are set. This programme commenced in August 2015 and has resulted in ongoing price reductions.

In developing its recommendations on the use of daclatasvir (TA364) and ombitasvir–paritaprevir–ritonavir with or without dasabuvir (TA365) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) took into account the prices that had been agreed by the Commercial Medicines Unit at the time NICE’s guidance was being developed as the companies provided this information as part their evidence submissions to NICE. For the appraisal of ledipasvir-sofosbuvir for chronic hepatitis C (TA363), the company did not submit the equivalent information as evidence for consideration in the appraisal and NICE’s recommendations are based on the published list price for the drug. As a result of subsequent procurement exercises, these drugs may be available to the NHS at lower prices than when NICE developed its technology appraisal guidance.