Britain Plans Pharma "Invest Here" Road Show

With the European Medicines Evaluation Agency now established in London, the UK government and pharmaceutical industry are to join forces, along with the banking/ investment community, to try to bring in pharmaceutical and biotechnology investment into the country.

Trevor Jones, newly-appointed director of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, told the Marketletter that a plan is afoot for himself, along with representatives of the Department of Health and the Department of Industry and an as-yet not disclosed chief executive of a major British pharmaceutical company, to go on a "road show," essentially to Japan and the east and west coasts of the USA to demonstrate the benefits of putting pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing and research operations into Britain. The argument will be that with the EMEA based in London, along with the other favorable advantages for investing in the UK, this will be the place to be.

The UK also has a highly respected drug registration authority in the Medicines Control Agency, and this could be the "first approval" point for European registration. However, there is a small danger from across the channel (from France), which is already making it clear that it should be the country for first new drug approvals under the European Union scheme. As Dr Jones pointed out, if the MCA starts losing out on its drug approval operations then this could bode poorly for UK operating companies.