Britain could see widespread medicine shortages if there is no deal to prevent friction at the border with the European Union after Brexit, the AstraZeneca chief executive told the Sunday Times.
The company said in July it would stockpile drugs as a Brexit safety net, and CEO Pascal Soriot told the Sunday Times in an interview that the complexity of the supply chain in pharmaceuticals meant that delays would be likely.
“We have products that go back and forth between the UK and Europe at different stages of manufacturing,” he was quoted as saying. “If drugs are stuck, you have a problem.”
Separately, the Sunday Times reported that Jaguar Land Rover was considering following BMW’s lead and bringing forward its annual summer factory shutdown to coincide with Britain’s departure from the EU in case there is no deal, but added no decision had been taken.
By Alistair Smout
Source: Reuters
The companies will explore opportunities to apply Flagship’s innovative bioplatforms – an ecosystem that currently comprises 41 companies – to scientific challenges in disease areas within cardiometabolic and rare diseases and initiate research programmes based on these.
BD is expanding its long-running partnership with the blood collection company Babson Diagnostics. The two companies have been working together since 2019 on a device that can gather small volumes of blood from the capillaries in the fingertip without requiring any specialized training, and beginning with a focus on supporting primary care in retail settings.
Wednesday, Australian biotech CSL said (PDF) the regulatory review of its $11.7 billion acquisition of Switzerland’s Vifor Pharma will take “a few more months,” suggesting it won’t be able to close the transaction by June 2022 as previously expected.
