What Pharma Can Do About Brexit: Views From The C-Suite

The business uncertainty that was created by the UK’s referendum vote on June 23, 2016, will be felt for many years to come. The result of the vote was certainly an unwelcome surprise to the pharmaceutical industry. Novasecta privately interviewed 20 top executives from leading European pharmaceutical companies to ask how they are dealing with it. (See sidebar, "Novasecta’s Survey.") Their perspectives do not make cheerful reading for the industry. With the exception of short-term currency gains for some, the executives did not cite any clear benefits for their companies. And though most firms are watching and waiting, those that are at a point of considering new or increased long-term investment in their European R&D or manufacturing footprint are less enamored by the UK now that its relationship with the EU has become so uncertain.

Pharmaceuticals is a long-term business. The executives we interviewed were therefore universally reluctant to make immediate decisions to reverse any prior commitments that were made to the UK when it...