Pharma industry responds to Brexit meaningful vote

This week (16 January) saw prime minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal firmly defeated in the House of Commons bringing forward the very real possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

The pharmaceutical industry has responded to the outcome of the meaningful vote, speculating on the challenges that a ‘no deal’ Brexit will undoubtedly bring with it to the industry.

Gavin Davidson, pharma analyst at GlobalData stated that the UK’s image as an attractive place for biopharma research and manufacturing has been “steadily eroded”.

“The UK has always been at the forefront of pharmaceutical and biotechnical investment and development. For this position to be maintained, companies based in the UK want certainty on the outcome of Brexit and with MPs now debating ‘what next’, the stakes couldn’t be higher with the healthcare industries' £70B ($88.5B) per annum contribution to the UK economy at risk if the country ends up with a no deal Brexit, an outcome that the EU has now escalated its planning for,” Davidson said.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) responded to the news by saying that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be “extremely challenging” for the industry.

Mike Thompson, chief executive of the ABPI, said: "The focus of pharmaceutical companies is on making sure that medicines and vaccines get to patients whatever the Brexit outcome. This includes stockpiling and duplicating manufacturing processes here and in Europe. We continue to work as closely as possible with Government on no deal planning.

"But we reiterate that ‘no deal’ would prove to be extremely challenging. With time running out we hope Parliament will come together and quickly find a solution to the stalemate and reassure patients that medicines will not disrupted come March 2019."

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) responded by outlining a series of actions that need to be taken to protect patients.

These include, putting fast-track lanes for medicines into ports and airports, having medicines and clinical trials exempt from new customs and border checks and enabling regulatory checks to completed away from the physical border.

EFPIA director general Nathalie Moll said: “Now is the time for policy makers in the UK and the EU to put politics aside and put measures in place to prevent patients being harmed by the consequences of Brexit. In particular from disruption to the supply of medicines including from transport delays at the border and where the development, manufacture, packaging, safety testing and regulation of the medicine no longer benefits from mutual recognition.”