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9 January 2018Big Pharma

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.

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More on this story

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21 November 2017   The European Medicines Agency will relocate from its London, UK headquarters to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
Big Pharma
11 May 2016   The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the BioIndustry Association have said they want the UK to remain in Europe.
Big Pharma
16 January 2018   Italian members of the European Parliament are fighting the European Medicines Agency’s relocation to the Netherlands.

More on this story

Big Pharma
21 November 2017   The European Medicines Agency will relocate from its London, UK headquarters to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
Big Pharma
11 May 2016   The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the BioIndustry Association have said they want the UK to remain in Europe.
Big Pharma
16 January 2018   Italian members of the European Parliament are fighting the European Medicines Agency’s relocation to the Netherlands.