Category A price-setting arrangements from July 2025
From July 2025, Category A reimbursement prices will be based on data from suppliers obtained under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018.
This follows a transition period which took place over six financial quarters from April 2024 to the end of June 2025, with reimbursement prices determined using a variable weighting of the old and new methods each quarter. During the transition period, the reimbursement price-setting approach moved further away from the use of supplier list prices towards the use of actual sales and volume information submitted by suppliers as set out in the table below:
| Quarterly cycle | Transition to new arrangements |
| April – June 24 | 15% new / 85% old methodology |
| July – September 24 | 30% new / 70% old methodology |
| October – December 24 | 50% new / 50% old methodology |
| January – March 25 | 70% new / 30% old methodology |
| April – June 25 | 85% new / 15% old methodology |
| July 25 | 100% new |
If a pharmacy owner is unable to purchase a particular Category A medicine at or below the Drug Tariff listed price, a price concession application can be requested in the usual way. We encourage pharmacies to report any problems obtaining a Part VIII product at or below the stated Drug Tariff price, using the online feedback form on Community Pharmacy England’s website.
View the update on the NHSBSA website.
Background
Products in Category A include drugs which are readily available as licensed generic medicines. In April 2024, changes to Category A reimbursement arrangements were introduced as part of a series of drug reimbursement reforms proposed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) following a public consultation.
Previously, Category A reimbursement prices were set monthly using a weighted average of list prices from two wholesalers (AAH and Alliance Healthcare) and two generic manufacturers (Teva and Accord-UK).
However, DHSC wanted to move away from this price-setting approach as they believed that supplier list prices did not reflect actual selling prices by the manufacturers and wholesalers. Ministers opted to proceed with making the changes to Category A price-setting arrangements by using actual sales and volume data obtained by DHSC under the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018. DHSC’s decision was primarily focused on an ambition to equalise access to margin on Category A medicines.
Further Information
For more information on Category A, please visit our Category A webpage.
