A critical analysis of the UK Pharmaceutical Industry and my preparedness to work as a manager in this sector
Uploaded by yolokenny on Jan 23, 2022
A critical analysis of the UK Pharmaceutical Industry and my preparedness to work as a manager in this sector
The referendum result in 2016 kickstarted Brexit, where the United Kingdom (UK) exited the European Union (Blitz, 2016). Of all the industries, biopharma was expected to remain stable pro-Brexit. UK’s biopharma industry supplies 3% of the medicines in the global market and top five in research and design of life sciences (EHealth, 2016). The UK government also put in place various initiatives, such as the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021, that would spearhead innovation in healthcare post-Brexit (GlobalData Healthcare, 2021). As expected, the UK’s pharmaceutical industry has remained stable post-Brexit, compared to industries such as banking and insurance (Blitz, 2016). Regardless of how robust the pharmaceutical industry is, Brexit has consequences on the supply chain in the United Kingdom.
Specifically, there are uncertainties on how to import regulations, and delays will affect UK residents’ access to medicines (Milne-Ives et al., 2020). This study examines how the UK pharmaceutical industry manages supply chain uncertainties arising from the political decision popularly known as Brexit. Brexit was a significant geopolitical event that affected all aspects of the supply chain ranging from sourcing inputs, managing assets, human resource migration, and storage of materials (PWC, 2018; Hendry et al., 2019). Our interest in the pharmaceutical industry arises because the UK government outlined science and innovation as one of the 12 ‘negotiating priorities’ of Brexit (Gov UK, 2017). Considering the impacts of Brexit on the pharmaceutical industry, it is necessary to discuss the impact of Brexit on the pharmaceutical industry and its future development. The essay will investigate the effects of Brexit on the UK pharmaceutical industry, its stakeholders, and the way the UK pharmaceutical industry makes decisions.
The main challenges and solutions facing the UK Pharmaceutical Industry
The pharmaceutical supply chain is likely to face many challenges following Brexit. First, the UK has relied on the EU as the leading supplier of its medicine (EMA, 2018). Leaving the union then disrupts the supply, affecting drug production, authorization, regulation, trade, health and safety monitoring, and research (Lorgelly, 2018). Specifically, the joint research and design centers between the UK and Germany have to be separated, affecting the testing and release of medicines. Instead of EMA’s usual authorization of drugs, they will undergo an additional authorization process before reaching UK markets (EMA, 2018). This additional step will increase the cost...