Hard times: Viagra maker Pfizer warns Brexit could cost it $100m
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has warned in regulatory filings that Brexit could cost it $100m (£78m).
The maker of erectile dysfunction drug Viagra said it had already done work to minimise the impact on its business in “all Brexit scenarios”.
In the filing it warned that the UK’s “complex” negotiations to leave the EU “may pose certain implications to our research, commercial and general business operations in the UK and the EU”.
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A Pfizer spokesperson said:
“We have carried out detailed assessments of the supply of all our medicines with the focus on ensuring we will continue to have them available for our patients. Due to the long lead times we have in our supply chains, and in the interests of all patients across Europe, we are asking the EU and the UK to reach appropriate arrangements for alignment and cooperation for medicines regulation and supply, and to support this alongside other elements to foster longer-term regulatory continuity between the EU and UK.”
The company said its business continuity planning had taken in a raft of areas.
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“Key activities thus far include: marketing authorisation transfer planning, preparing for packaging updates, reference member state changes, clinical trials authorisation amendments, legal entity planning, transfer of product testing and release for marketed products and clinical trials supply,” a spokesperson said.
Yesterday shares in FTSE 250 veterinary drug maker Dechra Pharmaceuticals dived after it announced it was moving ahead with plans for a hard Brexit.
These included the transfer of product registration to the EU and came to a total cost of around £2m.