AstraZeneca seeks three-year Brexit transition period
The chairman of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca wants a transition period of three years following the UK’s exit from the EU.
In a speech in September, UK Prime Minister Theresa May proposed a two-year transition period where the UK would retain access to the EU single market.
But Leif Johansson, chairman of AstraZeneca, is hoping for three years, adding that “very early in that period, we need to know what to expect in years four, five and six”, according Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Respondents to a recent British Chambers of Commerce survey also expressed their preference for a substantial transition period.
More than two thirds of respondents are seeking a transition period of at least three years.
In July, LSIPR reported that the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and seven other UK and European life sciences bodies wrote jointly to the UK and EU Brexit negotiators to underline their concerns.
The organisations stressed that a UK-EU cooperation agreement on medicines was the best way to ensure that patients across the regions are able to continue accessing medicines, as well as making sure that there is no adverse impact on public health.
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