§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many units of BSM factor VIII were sold by the Bio Products Laboratory to United Kingdom hospitals before 31 March.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThis information is commercially confidential.
§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health who will audit the Bio Products Laboratory from 1 April; and under what accounting standard this audit will take place.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyFrom 1 April 1991 the Central Blood Laboratories Authority and the other health authorities will be audited by the Audit Commission. The audits are conducted in accordance with the code of audit practice for local authorities and the national health service in England and Wales dated November 1990.
§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health under what requirements the Bio Products Laboratory now lies in respect of the publication of annual accounts.
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§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Bio Products Laboratory is not required to publish annual accounts separately from the Central Blood Laboratories Authority, which publishes an annual report covering its activities as a whole.
§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether all Bio Products Laboratory products deemed to have licences have been subject to the full product licence fee of £130,000 per product payable on the product licence application to the Medicines Control Agency.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Bio Products Laboratory is required to pay a licence fee appropriate to each of its applications for product licences made under the Medicines Act. Details of the fees paid by the Bio Products Laboratory as with any other pharmaceutical company are confidential between the Medicines Control Agency and the applicant.
§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what differences exist between the terms, including conditions of confidentiality, on which(a) the Bio Products Laboratory and other state institutions and (b) commercial pharmaceutical companies compete in respect of tendering;
(2) if he will give details of all contracts or agreements for plasma products including factor VIII, Albumin and IVGG made for 1991–92 by the Bio Products Laboratory with regional health authorities which were not subject to general tenders to the commercial pharmaceutical industry.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe purchase of blood products is a matter for provider units and health authorities. We are not aware of any differences in the terms on which the Bio Products Laboratory and commercial suppliers compete for the supply of such products to national health service purchasers; nor are we aware of any contracts or agreements made by the Bio Products Laboratory in 1991–92 which were not subject to tender to commercial suppliers.
§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health who is now responsible for funding any losses made by the Bio Products Laboratory over a financial year.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Central Blood Laboratories Authority, of which Bio Products Laboratory is part, is required to stay within the cash limit set by the Department and funded from class XIII, vote 1.
§ Mr. BellottiTo ask the Secretary of State for Health under what legal status the Bio Products Laboratory has been trading since 1 April.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Bio Products Laboratory is an integral part of the Central Blood Laboratories Authority, a special health authority set up in December 1982. The legal status of that body as a special health authority has not changed.