UK’s MHRA Will Cut Drug Review Staff by 20 Percent

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) plans to cut an estimated 20 percent of its workforce, around 300 employees — and aims to take a back-seat approach in approving generics and to rely on actions taken by EU and U.S. drug regulators.

The UK’s exit from the EU last year meant that MHRA lost the fee income it had been receiving as a European drug regulator and is now under financial strain, a spokesperson told FDAnews.

The UK regulator characterizes the planned changes in a positive light, saying it will be “making savings in our operating costs, as well as redeploying and retraining our staff in new areas of regulation and science,” the spokesperson said.