Drug firms gagged with TOP SECRET NDA’s over post Brexit plans
DRUG companies have been gagged from revealing details of post-Brexit medicine supplies and cross border arrangements after signing top-secret agreements drawn up by the UK government.
If any pharmaceutical company happens to reveal the details about the plans - breaking the terms of the gagging order - they will be threatened with an injunction.
The details came to light when the Department published a draft NDA in response to a written parliamentary question from Paul Blomfield, Labour MP for Sheffield Central.
Health minister Stephen Barclay said the NDAs, which state that companies must not divulge anything discussed in meetings and refrain from sharing information provided by the Department, enables the government to “talk to the industry in confidence”.
Companies have also barred from taking any papers used in the meetings or making a copy of them.
It comes after the Prime Minister promised to end the use of ‘unethical’ NDAs in light of recent allegations in the House of Lords regarding Philip Green.
Mike Thompson, CEO of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), told repected politics website Politico that the NDA agreed between the industry and the government would “support effective planning for continued medicines supply in a ‘no deal’ Brexit”, but said failing to reach a deal is “not in the interest of patients in the UK or the EU.”
Last week Matt Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary, said he was “confident… so long as everybody does what they need to do” that the UK would have an “unlimited supply of medicines,” regardless of the Brexit outcome.