What is preventing the MHRA from receiving more EMA contracts?
European Medicines Agency (EMA) officials have awarded just two contracts to the UK medicines and medtech regulator this year, compared with 22 during both 2015 and 2016.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) appears to have lost out because of uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the journal Pharmafile has reported.
The agency submitted bids for 36 contracts this year but were awarded just two, both for drugs for which evaluations had already begun.
With the UK still negotiating a deal with the EU, an EMA official told the journal that more work could not be allocated to the MHRA because the agency and experts involved in the evaluation may no longer be within the EU before the evaluation period ends.
Evaluations sometimes take up to a year, the official added.
Further information
EMA: About us
Gov.uk: MHRA
Pharmafile: MHRA loses EMA contracts in wake of Brexit