Brexit costs and red tape are denying British cancer patients life-saving drugs and trials of revolutionary treatments, a damning new report has warned.
Soaring numbers are being diagnosed with cancer as the population grows alongside improvements in diagnosis and public awareness, heightening the importance of global cooperation on new treatments.
But, five years after Britain left the European Union, an in-depth analysis has concluded that Britons with cancer have “lost out” due to rising costs and post-Brexit red tape. By contrast, patients across Europe are enjoying a golden age of pioneering research and new treatments, it found.
The leaked report, revealed by The Guardian, warned Brexit has “damaged the practical ability” of doctors to offer NHS patients life-saving new drugs via international clinical trials.
It found instances where the cost of importing new cancer drugs had nearly quadrupled due to post-Brexit red tape, while some trials have seen shipping costs jump 10 times since Britain pulled out of the EU.
Extra rules and costs are having a “significant negative impact” on cancer research in the UK and creating “new barriers” that are “holding back life-saving research” for Britons, the report found.
The Independent has previously revealed how post-Brexit red tape has led to severe delays in drug supplies, increasing the risk facing NHS patients.
Vital antibiotics, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs are among those that have seen their supplies hit, with the NHS forced to pay over the odds to get them into Britain.
The new report was compiled by experts from organisations including Cancer Research UK, the University of Southampton, and Hatch, a research consultancy and cites evidence from leading scientists, researchers and clinicians.
It cites three areas of UK cancer research that have been hardest hit by Brexit; the regulatory environment for clinical trials, workforce mobility and access to funding.
Dr Martin McKee, a professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told The Guardian: “Those of us who understood the EU warned repeatedly about precisely these concerns.
“These findings are not just predictable, they were predicted.
“It was always inevitable that Brexit would lead to costly duplication and barriers to collaboration.”
The report comes amid Sir Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit with Brussels, after years of tense negotiations under the Conservatives.
Ministers have promised to strengthen the UK’s relationship with the EU on research as part of the prime minister’s bid to rebuild ties with the bloc.
A government spokesman said: “We are strengthening our relationship with the EU on research and have been providing extensive support for researchers to help them secure funding from the £80bn Horizon Europe programme and get more vital treatments from the lab to patients.”
