Brexit delay - critical to use the extra time productively, says RAPS CEO

Now that the UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s request for a Brexit deadline extension has been granted, it will provide time to make needed preparations, says Paul Brooks, executive director of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS).

Uncertainty about what will happen after the UK leaves the European Union has been a major concern for regulatory affairs professionals working in pharmaceutical and medical device companies since the day the result of the Brexit referendum was announced in 2016.

Regulatory professionals provide strategies and guidance to ensure needed healthcare products continue to flow into healthcare systems and are available to patients across Europe. Clarity on how the post-Brexit EU regulatory system and a newly separate UK system will operate relative to one another is urgently needed. Regulatory strategies responding to any change take significant time and resources to implement and need to continuously address clear regulator expectations.