Drug stockpiling builds as Brexit approaches

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Negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union to adopt an open trade agreement ahead of Britain’s March 2019 exit—or Brexit—from the EU are going so badly that some pharmaceutical companies are stepping up their stockpiling of drugs in case trade is suspended. Medicines in the EU are regulated—and licensed for use—by the European Medicines Agency. EMA has told the U.K. that its testing procedures may not be recognized and that it may be excluded from the automatic licensing of medicines for use in the EU. As a result, come March 2019, sales of medicines between the two parties could be temporarily halted. The volume of pharmaceuticals traded between the EU and the U.K. is substantial. About 45 million packs of medicine are exported from the U.K. to Europe monthly; 35 million packs go the other way. Some 108 drugs are manufactured only in the U.K. AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Sanofi