As part of post-Brexit arrangements to make sure new drugs are made available to people in all four countries of the UK, an interim mechanism has been set up for when a product is approved in the UK before the EU.

As heated discussions continue on the future of the protocol that keeps Northern Ireland within the EU’s single market, the UK government has been urged to ensure concerns over medicines supply are addressed before “rushing to get a deal done.”

The burden of having to produce separate product packs for Great Britain and Northern Ireland is among a number of concerns raised by industry executives at a recent hearing in the House of Lords.