Policy implications for post-brexit biotech

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe To the Editor: Reviewing the three pathways, even the 'soft' Brexit option (the Norwegian model) fails to achieve status quo

pre-Brexit. Under this arrangement, Britain would renounce EU membership before rejoining the European Economic Area (EEA) as a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) affiliate. The

arrangement would require consent to contentious EU policies (including 'freedom of movement' rules), while necessitating payment of considerable fees in exchange for EU

marketplace access. This option seems increasingly unlikely, given that triggering Article 50 signifies a 'harder' stance toward Brexit (i.e., exiting the single market). Rejoining

as an EFTA affiliate additionally obligates UK-based EU regulatory bodies (like the London-based European Medicines Agency; EMA) to relocate to EU-member states and strips the UK of any

influence over EU regulation. In anticipation, several countries are actively courting the EMA to be its future home1,2. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your

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subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES * Cressey, D. & Abbott, A. _Nature_ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature.2016.20153 (2016). * Anonymous. _Nature_ 544, 6

(2017). * European Commission. _Swiss participation in Horizon 2020_. http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/hi/h2020-hi-swiss-part_en.pdf (EU, 2017). * Matthes, J.

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Google Scholar  * Mossialos, E., Simpkin, V., Keown, O. & Darzi, A. _LSE_ http://www.lse.ac.uk/LSEHealthAndSocialCare/impacts/news/NHS-and-EU-Referendum-briefing.pdf (2016). * Gibney, E.

_Nature_ 540, 16–17 (2016). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Cressey, D. _Nature_ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature.2016.20434 (2016). Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND

AFFILIATIONS * University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, Global Public Health and Anesthesiology, San Diego, California, USA John Annaloro & Tim K Mackey Authors * John

Annaloro View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Tim K Mackey View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Tim K Mackey. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and

permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Annaloro, J., Mackey, T. Policy implications for post-Brexit biotech. _Nat Biotechnol_ 35, 710–711 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3930

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