The Off-patent Drugs Bill is a Bill introduced before the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Jonathan Evans in October 2014. It aims to make the British government seek new licences for off-patent medicines that could benefit patients whenever pharmaceutical companies fail to do so because there is no financial incentive. The bill's

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

order lapsed in December 2014. As a private member's bill (from an MP standing down in the 2015 General Election) it is unlikely to progress further. Passage of legislation on off-patent drugs has been supported by charities such as

Breast Cancer Now Breast Cancer Now is a charity in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2015 by the merger of Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer. It is the United Kingdom's largest breast cancer charity. Its declared "Action Plan" is "by 205 ...

. An Off-patent Drugs Bill was introduced as a PMB in the 2015 Parliament by

Nick Thomas-Symonds Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (born 26 May 1980) is a British academic, barrister and politician who has been Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tor ...

MP.{{cite tweet , last=Thomas-Symonds , first=Nick , user=NickTorfaen , number=613685242243739649 , date=24 June 2015 , title=Have just presented my Private Members' Bill to Parliament: the Off-Patent Drugs Bill. http://t.co/jDFatw5ItO , language=en , access-date=31 December 2020

References

2014 in British law 2015 in British law