UK-EU clinical research collaboration must continue post-Brexit: read the recommendations for our Brexit negotiators from Sheffield, QUB and Cancer Research UK

UK and EU Flags being separated

Read the paper here

This paper is a collaboration between Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Health Governance After Brexit (HGAB) members Sarah McCloskey and Tamara Hervey. The paper highlights and makes a number of recommendations on how to protect the important collaboration between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) on clinical research after the end of the Transition Period and into the future. CRUK research shows that 28% of the UK clinical trials take place with at least one EU Member State, and at last count CRUK researchers were partnering with over 400 organisations in the EU.


CRUK have identified the recommendations in the paper by drawing on legal analysis prepared by the HGAB project (a project between The University of Sheffield and Queen's University Belfast; the project webpage is here) and utilising the expertise of CRUK researchers. The paper recognises and respects the mandates of both the EU and UK and draws on precedent, while acknowledging that compromise will be needed from all negotiators to secure the best outcome.


The recommendations include committing to reducing the barriers to UK-EU collaborative clinical research; committing to cooperating as far as possible on medicines licensing, patient safety and minimising barriers to trade; and full UK association to Horizon Europe. 

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