The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has initiated a consultation on the legislation and regulatory processes for medicines, medical devices and related clinical trials that would need to be amended in the event of a “no deal” scenario, i.e. if the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 without the framework for a future EU-UK trading relationship agreed or a transition period. The MHRA reiterates in the consultation that the UK…

On 23 August 2018, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA), the network of the National Competent Authorities in the European Economic Area (EEA), published the work programme of their joint task force regarding the availability of authorised medicines for human and veterinary use. The HMA-EMA task force was created to develop and coordinate actions on the availability of human and veterinary medicinal products authorised in the EU. It…

The UK Government has published guidance for life sciences companies on the Brexit implementation period, which is intended to take effect from 30 March 2019 to the end of 2020. If the draft Withdrawal Agreement is finalised by the UK and EU, during the implementation period the UK will no longer be an EU Member State but the UK and EU will continue to access each other’s market on broadly the same terms as at…

On 19 June 2018, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published updates to its Brexit Q&A document for human and veterinary medicines authorised via the centralised procedure and to its practical procedural guidance on making Brexit related changes to the authorisations for those products. The updated version (“Rev 03”) of the EMA Q&A document includes new paragraphs relating to the validity of inspections carried out by UK inspectors, multi-country packaging, back-up arrangements for pharmacovigilance, batch release…

On 19 June 2018, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published updates to its Brexit Q&A document for human and veterinary medicines authorised via the centralised procedure and to its practical procedural guidance on making Brexit related changes to the authorisations for those products. The updated version (“Rev 03”) of the EMA Q&A document includes new paragraphs relating to the validity of inspections carried out by UK inspectors, multi-country packaging, back-up arrangements for pharmacovigilance, batch release…

The UK Government has published a response to the recommendations set out in the Health and Social Care Committee’s Report dated 21 March 2018 on “Brexit: medicines, medical devices and substance of human origin”, which considered the regulatory arrangements needed for the safe and effective supply of medicines and medical devices post-Brexit (see our blog here). Of particular interest to life sciences companies, the response states that: The safety of patients is of paramount…

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, a parliamentary select committee, has published a report on the consequences of Brexit on the UK pharmaceutical industry. The report examines the impact of different outcomes of the UK/EU negotiations, including a “no deal” scenario, on tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers (e.g. border delays), regulatory alignment, trade opportunities, skilled workers, and research and development, as well as the proposed transitional arrangements. The key conclusions include: To ensure the continued…