Dive Brief:
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Executives from two top British pharmaceutical companies and U.K. officials have created a task force to deal with issues stemming from Britain's decision to leave the EU, Reuters reports.
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The group is chaired by British life science minister George Freeman and CEOs from GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca.
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Britain has become a major European pharmaceutical hub and the impact of Brexit on the industry could be significant, particularly if the European Medicines Agency is forced to move from London.
Dive Insight:
Getting Britain out of the E.U. isn't just a matter of quitting. That's particularly true with the pharmaceutical industry.
Britain will have to create its own regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals once it leaves the E.U., and it's also become a major pharma research hub in part because of E.U. ties. The European Medicines Agency, which approves drugs across the E.U., is located in London and presumably will have to move.
The newly created Life Sciences Steering Group is aimed to helping promote and support the U.K. life sciences industry in a post-Brexit world.
“[The group] will allow Industry and Government to work closely together over the coming period, particularly on areas such as regulatory standards, trade and people as the UK prepares to negotiate with the E.U.," a spokesperson for GlaxoSmithKline said. "We are committed to securing outcomes that will enable our industry to continue to make an important contribution to health and wealth in the U.K. and Europe, and deliver continued benefit to patients."
The British pharmaceutical industry overwhelmingly supported the "Remain" campaign, citing the benefits of open trade access to Europe and E.U. funding for research.
"We believe that the U.K. remaining in the E.U. would be in the best interests of patients, our industry and our company, but we respect the democratic decision reached in this referendum," AstraZeneca said in a statement after the results of the referendum.
The U.K. still has not officially triggered the secession process, which is governed by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. But the effects of the referendum could be more immediately felt in investment and research plans.
As for the EMA, the agency recently said any relocation decision would have to be made through agreement between member state representatives.