Pharma survey: No Brexit is the best option

A new poll of the pharma industry has found that 48% believe 'No Brexit' is the best option – but a quarter believes a ‘no deal’ Brexit is the most likely outcome.

Pharma market analysts GlobalData conducted the survey among 156 pharma industry personnel in the UK, EU and US, and found that while 'No Brexit' was the most favoured option – just 6% believed that this was likely to happen.

That’s because the 2016 referendum result narrowly in favour of Brexit has been interpreted by the Conservative government and the Labour opposition as meaning the UK must leave the EU – even though the terms of Brexit remain unclear, and the economic impact is likely to be severe.

The poll is drawn from GlobalData's new report: Brexit and the Healthcare Industry - Implications for Pharma, Q2 2018.

“Participants indicated that reversal of the referendum result is the best outcome for the healthcare industry, with 48% selecting 'No Brexit', mirroring the proportion who voted 'Remain' in the 2016 referendum,” Alexandra Annis, MS, managing pharma analyst at GlobalData, said.

Overall, 48% of participants indicated that a 'no deal' Brexit or Brexit with a deal with the EU is the best outcome, of which soft Brexit options were preferred, with the 'Norway model' being the most selected option (17%).

GlobalData’s report focuses on the likely impact of Brexit on healthcare, including the pharma sector, and evolving industry views on it.

Brexit will have a far reaching impact on research and manufacturing and regulation – particularly in the UK itself, but also in Europe and beyond.

Annis continues: "There was much greater uncertainty over the most likely outcome of Brexit, with a more even spread between different options. However, in general, hard Brexit options were the most likely to be selected, with 'No deal' Brexit the most chosen answer. Overall, participants indicated that the most likely outcomes of Brexit would not be the options they believed to be best for the healthcare industry.

“The pharmaceuticals industry is one of the largest and most dynamic in the UK, and is a major contributor to the economy. As well as being the home to the pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, many other leading international pharmaceuticals companies have sizeable operations in the UK. It is therefore of importance to the UK economy that British-based pharma operations are able to continue thriving post-Brexit.”

Negotiations between the UK and the EU are set to begin again later this month, with fears of a ‘no deal’ Brexit rising because of a continuing lack of agreement on issues such as trade, tariffs and the Irish border question.

Fears about Europe’s medicines supply chain coming to standstill because of a hard or no deal Brexit have grown, and numerous companies have begun stockpiling to prepare for such a scenario.