Life Sciences Update - November 2018

Welcome to the monthly update from the Life Sciences team at S&B containing news about recent and topical developments.

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Contact our experts for further advice

Charlotte Tillett,

Gustaf Duhs

Contents

Life Sciences Brexit Update: Deal or No Deal?
UK trade mark law is changing from 14 January 2019
Lyrica - Supreme Court judgment raises the bar on repurposing
ABPI outlines terms for pharmaceutical pricing regulation scheme replacement

Life Sciences Brexit Update: Deal or No Deal?

We are now at the next stage of Brexit. After nearly two-and-a-half years of negotiations, a ‘Brexit deal’ has been agreed. If this is ratified by the UK and EU parliaments, the UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019 with an agreement in place. A... Read more
UK trade mark law is changing from 14 January 2019

Changes are being introduced to UK trade mark law to give effect to the Trade Marks Directive 2015 (EU 2015/2436). The changes largely mirror those previously introduced for EU trade marks (EUTMs). They amend the UK Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA) and will form... Read more
Lyrica - Supreme Court judgment raises the bar on repurposing

Finding new uses for existing medicines is an important area of pharmaceutical research which boasts many success stories. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Lyrica case relating to the use of pregabalin for pain is, however, disappointing news... Read more
ABPI outlines terms for pharmaceutical pricing regulation scheme replacement

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has outlined terms with the Government for the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (the “Voluntary Scheme”), to help the NHS with getting the best value and most effective medicines into use quickly.
The Voluntary Scheme is expected to come into effect from January 2019 and will replace the current Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme (PPRS), which expires on 31 December 2018. The Voluntary Scheme will hopefully ensure new medicines are assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence a lot faster than currently in terms of both clinical and cost effectiveness, as well as getting clinicians and the NHS ready to use such new medicines as soon as possible.