Drug companies would delay applying for UK licences to sell expensive, groundbreaking medicines if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, ministers have suggested. The claim, made in a Whitehall impact assessment signed off by ministers in the department of health, represents the first time the government has admitted that access to new drugs could be delayed under no-deal. The paper cites research suggesting that pharmaceutical companies could hold off from applying for authorisation to sell new medicines in Britain for up to a year after applying for permission to sell in the EU. At present drugs sold in Britain are assessed by the European Medicines Agency, which regulates the EU’s entire pharmaceutical market, a priority for pharmaceutical companies. But in the event of no-deal
A no - deal Brexit could mean drug companies abandoning plans to bring new medicines to the UK , according to a recent report on the potential impact of a no - deal departure . It said pharmaceutical firms could delay their applications for a UK clearance by up to a year after applying for similar clearance in the EU . The report said the companies currently have an average of three months between applying for EU clearance and for permission in countries that had their own licensing rules , as the UK would have after Brexit . In 10 % of cases that delay stretched to a year .