Joint letter presented to Brexit negotiation teams from EU and UK pharma industry bodies

A joint letter has been written by the chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and seven other UK and European pharma and life science industry bodies for the UK and EU Brexit negotiations teams, underlining the importance of ongoing cooperation on medicines.

The letter has been sent to the European Commission chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and secretary of State for exiting the EU, David Davis. It outlines the importance of ensuring ongoing cooperation between the EU and the UK on medicines, which should, according to the bodies that wrote the letter, be a part of the Brexit negotiations.

Key passages from the letter, as laid out by the ABPI in statement, include:

“Securing agreement [on ongoing cooperation between the UK and EU on medicines] is the best way of ensuring that patients across Europe and the UK are able to continue to access safe and effective medicines and to ensure that there is no adverse impact on public health.”

“...In the case of an unorderly withdrawal there is a risk that all goods due to be moved between the UK and EU could be held either at border checks, in warehouses or manufacturing and/or subject to extensive retesting requirements. In fact, this would lead to a severe disruption of most companies’ supply chains, which would lead to potential supply disruptions of life-saving medicines.”

“An implementation period that adequately reflects the time needed by pharmaceutical and biotech companies to transition to a new framework should be agreed on by negotiators. This will allow companies time to make the necessary arrangements to avoid any unintended consequences on the availability of the medicines.”

The other signatories of the letter, alongside Thompson from the ABPI, are the leaders of The Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP); The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA); EuropaBio; Medicines for Europe; British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA); BioIndustry Association (BIA); and The Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB).