British patients could end up not being able to access modern medicines if there is a “hard Brexit”, a think tank report endorsed by a former Conservative health minister warned on Wednesday.
Drugmakers currently use the European Medicines Agency as a one-stop-shop to get drugs licensed across Europe, but Britain is likely to drop out of that system if it severs EU ties and leaves the single market in a scenario dubbed “hard Brexit”.
“An approach to leaving the EU which saw ideological considerations placed above securing the right relationship for the economy and for UK patients would see the UK life sciences sector relegated to a second-tier player,” the Public Policy Projects report said.
