ABPI gives oral evidence on Brexit to DExEU

11 October 2018

Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), which represents the branded pharmaceutical industry in the UK, yesterday appeared in front of the DExEU Commons Select Committee, where he pointed out:

Pharmaceutical companies are doing everything in their power, including spending hundreds of millions of pounds, increasing stocks of medicine in the UK and duplicating testing in the European Union, to avoid disruption to the supply of medicines in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
45 million packs of medicines move from the UK to the EU every month, and 37 million packs move the other way. It is not in the interest of patients, either in the UK or in the EU, to have ‘no deal’.

While the industry is doing everything in its power to prevent avoid delays and disruption, there are situations completely out of our control, which can only be fixed by a UK/EU deal on the future of medicines;
Stockpiling alone is not going to guarantee supply in the event of a ‘no deal’ which is why we urgently need a deal; and
There are medicines which simply can’t be stockpiled due to temperature control, short shelf life or inability to travel.

It is vital that both sides rapidly agree the terms of the UK’s withdrawal and a future relationship based on long-term cooperation on the regulation, trade and supply of medicines to protect public health, manage medicines safety and control infectious diseases throughout Europe.
A Brexit deal is vital for maintaining skills, resources and investment into UK clinical trials. Clinical trials benefit thousands of patients for whom no other treatment exists and are lucrative for the National Health Service. Losing these trials would set the UK back.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK