Continued participation in EU-wide clinical trials and the Horizon 2020 research programme is ‘vital’ to the UK’s life sciences sector, according to a new cross-party report by UK MPs.
It is still unclear whether the UK will participate after Brexit in the European Reference Networks, which aim to help patients with rare diseases, potentially putting at risk millions of patients.
Health risks being forgotten in Brexit negotiations, potentially delaying the availability of new medicines and imposing large costs on manufacturers, public health leaders have warned.
The European Commission unveiled plans for a pan-EU Health Technology Assessment (HTA) law on Wednesday (31 January), with EU health chief Vytenis Andriukaitis promising that they would help patients take advantage of “an exciting era for innovation in health".
Twenty-one EU countries have made falsifying medicines a criminal offence, carrying a potential jail sentence of 15 years, according to a new report published on Friday (26 January) by the European Commission.
EU governments are meeting the Commission's proposals to reform health systems with "silence", an exasperated Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said on Thursday (25 January), pleading for more investment in prevention across the bloc.
Public health organisations and EU lawmakers say the closed-door meetings before the submission of a new drug between the pharma industry and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a key player in the continent’s healthcare industry, should be more transparent.
The Commission’s upcoming proposal on Health Technology Assessment (HTA) will focus on clinical aspects and leave member states to decide on economic or ethical parts, a European Commission spokesperson told EURACTIV.com.
Following a Greek government request, the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) will discuss on Friday (8 December) a recent dispute between Athens and ROCHE, a Swiss multinational company, over the latter’s decision to withdraw a cancer drug from the market.
With Brexit barely 15 months away, the UK government, as well as the European and British life science industry, is calling for a transition period on the regulation and supply of medicines in order to avoid potential disruptions in the market that will negatively affect patients.
The next EU Health Council on 8 December will discuss the “lack of drug availability in Greece”, amid mounting tensions between the leftist government in Athens and the pharmaceutical companies.
