MHRA Announces Expansion, Will Assume Two Additional Agencies

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced that the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) will soon become part of the regulatory agency.

The announcement, made at MHRA's 8th Annual Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians in London on 11 March 2013, came in the form of a speech by MHRA's Chief Executive, Prof. Sir Kent Woods.

The CPRD facilitates linking anonymized National Health Service (NHS) clinical data to enable observational research and deliver research outputs designed to benefit public health.

Over 350 stakeholders from a range of different health and science organizations at the event had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with a panel consisting of: Sir Andrew Witty, Chief Executive of GSK, Professor Sir Kent Woods, Dr Stephen Inglis, Director of NIBSC, Dr John Parkinson Director of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and Dr June Raine, the MHRA's Director of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines.