§ Mr. ConnartyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely changes in cost to the NHS of the creation of monopoly suppliers through the licensing of orphan chemicals following the implementation of UK legislation on the EU Directive on Orphan Chemicals. [67576]
§ Mr. LammyNo assessment has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of medicines licensed under the European Orphan Drugs Regulations. Four drugs have been authorised to date and approximately 200 others have been designated and are in the pipeline for authorisation. Until the prices of these medicines and the number of patients requiring them are known it is difficult to quantify the cost. Where companies make excessive profits on branded medicines these are recovered under the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (PPRS) and statutory powers are available to deal with medicines not covered by that scheme.