Pharmaceutical industry responds to Trade Bill amendment on medicines

Parliament has voted in favour of amendment NC17 to the Trade Bill that will make it a negotiating objective for the UK Government to seek the UK's participation in the European medicines regulatory network.

In a joint statement on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, and Steve Bates, chief executive of the BioIndustry Association, said:

“Today, Parliament has sent a clear message that patients and public health should be a top priority for the Government in these negotiations. Every month, 37 million packs of medicine arrive in the UK from the EU and 45 million move the other way. Therefore, it is essential that the UK continues to participate in the EMA after Brexit, as set out in the Brexit White Paper and in the Prime Minister’s Mansion House speech.”