§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the life-expiry date of Pyridostigmine Bromide was in(a) 1990 and (b) 1995. [40141]
§ Dr. ReidIn 1982 and 1983, the Ministry of Defence took delivery of an initial stock of unlicensed Nerve Agent Pretreatment Set (NAPS) tablets containing pyridostigmine bromide (PB) which had been manufactured by Roche Products Ltd. in those years. These tablets had a nominal shelf-life of 5 years, which was later extended to 6 and then 7 years following testing at the Chemical Defence Establishment (CDE) (now known as the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency) at Porton Down in 1987 and 1988. In July 1988 a contract was let to Duphar BV (now known as Solvay Duphar BV) to replace 165W MOD's holding of NAPS. This second order, also unlicensed, was delivered to MOD in February 1989 and distributed to units by August 1989. These tablets had a nominal life expectancy of 4 to 5 years, expiring in 1992–93.
Thus, at the beginning of 1990, MOD's stock of NAPS contained tablets manufactured by Roche Products Ltd., some of which had, nominally, life-expired in 1989 and some of which were due to expire early that year, and tablets manufactured by Duphar BV with a nominal expiry date of 1992–93. We believe that the NAPS tablets used during the Gulf conflict were drawn principally, possibly exclusively, from stocks of the Duphar tablets which were due to expire in 1992–93. However, in October 1990 samples of the Roche tablets, all of which were, at that time, life-expired, were analysed by CDE to determine their suitability for use during Operation GRANBY in the event that additional stocks were required; their PB content was found to be within an acceptable range for use.
Additional stocks of NAPS tablets were delivered from Duphar BV in 1991. A licence application for NAPS was made in 1992 and, based on the available storage data information, a life expiry date of 4 years was granted when the licence application was approved in 1993. This stock therefore had an expiry date of 1995. It is possible that MOD's holding of NAPS in 1995 also included some of the Roche and earlier Duphar batches whose shelf-lives had already expired.
Further stocks of NAPS tablets were delivered in the Spring of 1996 to replace MOD's holding. These have an expiry date of early 2000. Life-expired stocks of NAPS are currently being disposed of at CBD Porton Down.