Medtech says Brexit would have a “significant impact on trade”

George Freeman, British minister for life sciences has said that if Britain was to leave the EU, it would make the UK, Europe and the globe a “less secure place and hinder not help the process of global trade”

He continued to say: “In the sector of life sciences and the bio-economy for which I have the privilege of being the UK minister, I strongly believe that withdrawl from the European Union would not be in our best interests.”

Bill Doherty, executive vice president EMEA, Cook Medical agreed with the life science minister’s position. He said to MPN: “A UK exit from the EU would have a significant impact on trade between our countries and wider Europe.

“Trade within the tariff-free EU Single Market provides Cook Medical with access to a large customer base which demands high-tech medical devices.

“Likewise, the EU provides us with the expert labour that we require to maintain our leadership position in the sector and expand our operations.”

At the time of writing, the Leave campaign has 46% of the vote share, with Remain on 51%, according to an Object Request Broker (ORB) poll, that featured in The Telegraph today (31 May).

Jim TenBrink, vice president of Encoris, believes that Brexit could be good for the medical plastics market. He said to MPN: “I have been giving this some thought and if anything, pricing will drop for the UK goods given the lower exchange rate of £1 to €1.3 (5.19.2016). 

“This would be a significant competitive advantage over the EU across the board.  It would help companies like Encoris, since the increased savings will allow UK companies to now invest in more R&D and marketing and sales efforts, which means demand for medical models will increase.”

However, the Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) would struggle with a hugely increased workload and a reduced income if Brexit were to take place, according to the Financial Times.

This would be because the MHRA would need to process all medical device approvals independently of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

When asked if the MHRA would be able to take on all the extra work registering new medical devices now carried out by the EMA Agency, Michael Rawlins, chair of the MHRA replied: “Certainly not.”

He said that the MHRA would, “have to enlarge ourselves hugely” as the regulatory body would have to evaluate all new drugs and medical devices.

“Not only that, but I don’t know how it would be paid for,” Rawlins added, pointing out that companies would expect to pay far less to have a medical device approved for the UK alone: currently approval in one EU country means a new drug or device can be used across Europe.

This could mean it takes several months longer for new medical devices to become available in the UK, the Guardian reported.