Brexit could disrupt supply of medicines

The Brexit Health Alliance has warned that patients could face disruption to the supply of their medicines when the UK leaves the EU.

The briefing paper, Brexit and the impact on patient access to medicines and medical technologies, warns that medicines and medical technologies could be delayed or even become unavailable to patients unless a deal is reached that puts patients first.

The group say that up to 120,000 prostate cancer patients throughout Europe could be affected if Brexit negotiations fail to find a solution for future cooperation on regulation and trade of medicines and medical devices, with a prostate cancer medicine ‘one of many medicines that risks supply disruption from a no deal scenario’.

Niall Dickson, co-chair of the Brexit Health Alliance, said: “It is critical that UK and EU patients do not lose out on the best treatments and medical devices as the UK leaves the EU. We want to make sure that patients continue to benefit from early access to new health technologies and cutting-edge medicines, and that includes being able to take part in international clinical trials.

“This can be achieved if will is there – what patients need is maximum co-operation and alignment between the EU and the UK on the regulation of medicines and medical devices and we very much welcome the UK government’s commitment to close collaboration with our European partners. Let’s put patients first - both the UK government and European Commission must make this cooperation priority in the interests of UK and EU patients.”