2023-07-17 11:32:38
Under sections 260 to 266 of the National Health Service Act 2006, the Secretary of State has the power to place controls on the prices charged for drugs. The Secretary of State has the option of a statutory scheme or a voluntary scheme. Currently, a voluntary scheme for branded medicines is in force, but it is due to run out at the end of 2023.
The Secretary of State has been negotiating with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). Although the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) had been offered observer status at the negotiations, the Secretary of State declined to give the ABPI full participation status as a consultee.
The BGMA applied for judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision, arguing that the Secretary of State was entitled to and should negotiate fully with both the ABPI and the BGMA. In British Generic Manufacturers Association v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2023] EWHC 1725 (Admin), Mr Justice Turner refused the application. He held that even though the BGMA was an appropriate industry body, this did not mean that the Secretary of State had to negotiate with every appropriate industry body. The Act gave the Secretary of State a wide discretion and, indeed, there was no obligation or target on the Secretary of State to initiate any process of negotiations with a view to concluding agreement to a voluntary scheme.