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Post-Brexit, the MHRA has been consulting on the future medical devices regulations, and how to retain the UK’s position as an attractive place to launch devices. As part of this, there have been a number of recent announcements about the medical devices regime in the UK.

  • On 27 April 2023, the MHRA updated its guidance on the implementation of the future medical devices regulations (the UK Regulations) to confirm the intention for the “core aspects” of the UK Regulations to apply from 1 July 2025.
  • The UK government has also introduced legislation that will be finalised before 30 June 2023 to allow valid EU CE marked medical devices to continue to be placed on the market in Great Britain. The extended periods will align with the transitional periods under the new UK Regulations.
  • On 26 May 2023, a proposed new regulatory pathway, the Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP), set for pilot launch later in 2023, was announced, published as part of a suite of announcements that we will cover in a separate post.

Stakeholders will no doubt be pleased to hear of the development to extend the validity of EU CE marking in Great Britain, which allows for more realistic timeframes for manufacturers to obtain a UKCA mark, given the current state of flux of the UK medical device market following Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed IDAP pilot will also be a welcome development, and is another step taken by the MHRA to enhance innovation and stimulate interest in the UK medical devices industry, ahead of the implementation of the new UK medical devices regime in 2025.Continue Reading UK Medical Devices Update: Implementation of the UK Medical Devices Regulations and new Innovative Devices Access Pathway

The UK Government (Department of Health and Social Care, DHSC) and the ABPI have announced today that they have agreed the Heads of Agreement for what will now be called a Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, expected to become effective from 1st January 2019 following the end of the current 2014 Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme (PPRS”).

The details of the new Voluntary Scheme are still being finalised and, if agreed in full, will be published in December, at around the same time as publication of the new Statutory Scheme is expected to take place. Companies will then be asked to decide whether to agree to participate in the Voluntary Scheme or be subject to the Statutory Scheme.

The new Voluntary Scheme, which has been described as “a good deal for patients, the NHS and the UK life science industry” by the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, provides a guarantee that growth of the NHS branded medicines bill will not exceed 2% per year for the next 5 years, delivering expected savings of around £930 million to the NHS in 2019. In assessing growth sales by Voluntary Scheme members, Statutory Scheme companies and parallel import sales will be taken into account. As under the 2014 PPRS, the new Scheme will require industry to make rebate payments in respect of expenditure by the NHS that exceeds the permitted growth. Other important aspects are said to be:Continue Reading The UK 2019 Voluntary Scheme

On Monday, 3 July 2017, the scientific advice service within the National Institute for health and Care Excellence (NICE) launched its Medtech Early Technology Assessment (META) Tool.

The META Tool is an online service that provides developers of medical devices, diagnostics, digital health interventions, and medical apps with a framework to help them identify potential gaps in the available evidence, and prepare for discussions with investors, health technology assessment organisations (including NICE itself), and payers.Continue Reading NICE introduces META Tool