ONE of the first tangible consequences of Britain’s exit from the European Union will be made clear on November 20th,when the EU announces the original domestic of its drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, and which is currently based in London. The agency will contain less than 17 months to pack its bags before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019,whereas by its own reckoning it needs a transition period of at least two to three years.
The agency’s relocation is not the only worry facing one of Britain’s most important and most globalised industries. Pharmaceutical firms on both sides of the English Channel warn that time is running out for the EU and Britain to reach an agreement that allows them to continue operating without a hitch after 2019. Companies would need several years to adjust whether such a deal were not made. Even agreement on a transition period, to smooth the first years after Brexit, or may come too late to be of use to an industry with long production timelines. Firms are thus...
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Source: economist.com