AstraZeneca and Eisai urge UK to remain part of EMA
UK-headquartered AstraZeneca and Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai have urged the UK to remain a member of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the companies said they wanted the EMA to continue to oversee the movement and safety of drugs in the UK, despite the agency’s relocation.
In November, LSIPR reported that the EMA will relocate from its London headquarters to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, in light of Brexit.
The agency is responsible for the protection of public and animal health through the scientific evaluation and supervision of medicines.
According to The Daily Telegraph, AstraZeneca said its minimum demand from Brexit talks was “mutual recognition” of medicines standards.
The company then went on to say that its preferred outcome was “ideally the UK remaining within the EMA to ensure patients continue to receive their medicines as normal and to avoid duplication of effort and resources by industry that could otherwise be invested in research and development of new treatments”.
David Jeffreys, a senior vice president at Eisai, reportedly said that the firm wanted the UK to remain under the “umbrella” of the EMA post-Brexit.
The push by the companies to remain under the EMA’s umbrella comes just days after the Financial Times reported that the UK is attempting to remain under EU regulation for medicines after Brexit.
However, this would make the UK subject to the indirect jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In December, Rachel Bradley of Penningtons Manches outlined the impact of the EMA’s move on medicines regulation, in an article for LSIPR.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.