As the final scheduled round of post-Brexit trade talks begins amid growing concern over the prospect of a deal and the pervasive threat of COVID-19, the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and the EU have issued an urgent call for an MRA on medicines GMP. They also want to see a one-year phase-in of medicines-related aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

With coronavirus cases again on the rise in many European countries, members of two EU parliamentary committees asked industry representatives to explain why details of COVID-19 vaccine supply agreements are being kept under wraps.

The UK regulator wants to be a “catalyst for change” in reducing regulatory burdens, saying that better regulation based on science is in everyone’s interest.