Hello and welcome to a special episode of The Spectators podcast.

If it hadn't been for the pandemic, the past year would have likely been dominated by a familiar topic, Brexit.

The decision to leave, we're told, presents the

UK with endless opportunity in a variety of sectors, including healthcare and life sciences.

But it hasn't been the easiest year, with supply chains in the Northern Ireland Protocol

already coming under strain. So what are the opportunities to boost Britain's medical

advancements now that it's left the EU?

Where are the pitfalls?

To discuss all this and more, I'm joined today by Antonis Pappasolomantos, the Director of External Affairs for the Biopharmaceutical Company, Abfi,

Global Health Editor for the Financial Times, Sarah Neville, and former health secretary, the

Right Honorable Jeremy Hunt MP.

This podcast is kindly sponsored by Avvi.

So Sarah, I'll start with you.

Can you start by explaining why Brexit might allow us to do things differently when it comes

to the healthcare sector?

Well, I think there's one very particular area where

it might do, which is regulation. The MHRA, our national regulator, was previously a adjunct of the

European Medicines Agency, to which we belonged through our membership of the European Union, but now we're

no longer within the ambit of the EMA. And I think we're already seeing some quite intriguing

signs of our regulator here, starting to do things differently. It's always been one of the

most admired, perhaps the most

admired of all the national regulators. And what we've principally seen is how fleet of foot it can be.

...