MHRA Joins New Partnerships to Set International Regulatory Standards
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UK's life sciences regulator, is joining three international partnerships designed to agree and set common regulatory standards.
The International Medical Device Regulatory Forum (IMDRF) and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) will be focused on creating greater harmonisation and convergence of medicines and medical devices regulation globally. As part of these partnerships, the MHRA will share expertise with other leading regulatory organisations, and help to develop regulatory guidelines. This will help to have quicker access to innovative medicines and products in the UK and around the world. The MHRA had previously been a member through the EU before Brexit, and has now become a full member again.
In another development, the US-based Medical Devices Innovation Consortium (MDIC) has agreed to the MHRA becoming a member. This is a public-private partnership between regulators, industry, not-for-profit initiatives and patient organisations from different countries. The objective is to improve processes for development, assessment and review of new medical technologies. As with the other partnerships, this intends to get transformational medical technology to patients sooner.
Dr Glenn Wells, Chief International and Partnerships Officer at the MHRA, commented: "We are delighted to join these three international organisations to collaborate on regulatory alignment that will help deliver safer, innovative, and more cost-effective medicines and medical devices to the people who need them sooner. We are currently building a world-leading regime for regulating medicines and medical devices in the UK that prioritises patient safety while fostering innovation, and we look forward to sharing expertise with partner organisations for the benefit of patients not just in the UK but worldwide."
PING Conference
The 2022 PING Conference which VWV held on 20 June was all about this being a golden age for life sciences innovation. George Freeman, the Science, Research and Innovation Minister talked about the unique opportunities for science and adoption of innovation in the UK. Dr Samantha Roberts (Chief Executive of NICE) and Matthew Whitty (Chief Executive of the Accelerated Access Collaborative) also spoke to the PING Conference audience about the exciting developments in accelerating early adoptions of innovation.