Shutterstock.com
The hepatitis A and B vaccine has been added to the list of medicines that cannot be parallel exported from the UK.
There are now 32 medicines on the list, issued by the Department of Health and Social Care, including alogliptin/metformin, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and misoprostol, which were all added in November 2019.
The restrictions prevent medicine wholesalers from parallel exporting — where companies buy medicines meant for UK patients and sell them on at a higher price in another country.
Manufacturers and wholesalers who are found guilty of parallel exporting one or more of the listed medicines could face regulatory action by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, including the immediate suspension of their wholesale dealer licence.
In October 2019, the government announced restrictions on the parallel exporting of 19 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products to tackle shortages in the UK.
