Pharmaceutical companies are doing all that they can to prepare for a no-deal Brexit, although the chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Mike Thompson recently told a commons select committee that they can only do so much, Pharma Times reported.

Mr Thompson revealed that firms are increasing their stocks of medicines, as well as duplicating testing in the EU. However, he stressed that certain things remain “completely out of our control, which can only be fixed by a UK/EU deal on the future of medicines”.

He added that stockpiling isn’t an option for certain medicines, because of short shelf life, temperature control or an inability to travel.

It’s essential to agree a deal relating to the regulation, trade and supply of medicines to “protect public health, manage medicines safety and control infectious diseases throughout Europe”, he said.

There are already indications that Brexit is hurting the UK’s pharmaceutical sector, with Reuters recently reporting that the number of new clinical trials started in Britain last year was significantly lower than the average in the period from 2009-16.

Just 597 trials were started in Britain in 2017, compared to the average of 806 over the previous eight years.

There are worries among those in the sector that data gathered in UK trials won’t be accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) once the UK leaves the EU in March next year.

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