BRUSSELS, Mar 2 (APM) - The UK is going to seek continued collaboration with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) via "associate membership" after it leaves the EU, the country's prime minister Theresa May said in London on Friday.
This would mean the UK abiding by EMA-led rules and having input into them, as well paying into the agency's operation after Brexit takes place in March next year, she said.
She also envisages some form of arbitration mechanism to underpin the arrangement.
May said she wanted to allow continued UK engagement in EU science and research through a "far-seeing pact" that would allow for movement of staff across borders. These are some of the key concerns expressed by industry since the vote took place in the summer of 2016.
In addition, the prime minister promised that her government would be ready to maintain arrangements for cooperation and legal certainty on intellectual property, on Euratom, and on permitting continued operation of integrated supply chains.
Reacting to the speech, chief executive of the UK's branded trade pharma body the ABPI, Mike Thompson said: "Every month, 45 million packs of medicines move from the UK to the EU - and 37 million come the other way. That is why the prime minister’s commitment to seek cooperation on medicines regulation would be the best outcome for patients, not just in the UK but across Europe.
"It’s now critical that both sides prioritise patient safety in phase two of the negotiations. Delivering close cooperation on the regulation of medicines is only one part of the challenge. Making sure the supply of medicines is uninterrupted is essential to ensure patients in the UK and EU can get the medicines they need from day one of Brexit."
It said the pharmaceutical industry’s policy priorities for Brexit are:
- Securing a transition period. This should be a single-step transition that adequately reflects the time needed by pharmaceutical companies to transition to a new framework.
- Securing co-operation with the EU on the regulation of medicines. This should achieve alignment between the UK and EU regulatory framework, to deliver proportionate, robust and effective regulation of medicines in the UK.
- Securing the ability to freely trade and move medicines and pharmaceutical supplies across borders. This should be ‘frictionless’ and include access to free trade agreements already in place between third countries and the EU.
- Securing access to the best talent. This should achieve an immigration system which allows global pharmaceutical companies to attract and transfer talented and skilled students, scientists and other professionals from around the world.
- Securing predictable access to funding and collaboration for scientific research. This should achieve agreements on existing and future funding and collaboration opportunities such as Horizon 2020 (and its successor), including the Innovative Medicines Initiative. UK life science entrepreneurs should also be able to access the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund.
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