Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021

Summary

The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill has received royal assent and has become law. The new Act will enable the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to implement a number of policies to amend the existing regulatory frameworks, although generally regulations under the Act must first be introduced.

The potential changes include:

• Supporting the availability of medicines: enabling hub and spoke arrangements between different legal entities, to ‘support wider use of automation to bring increased efficiencies’; requiring manufacturers to provide electronic patient information leaflets; and increasing the professions able to prescribe and supply certain medicines.
• Protecting the public: developing a UK medicines verification system; introducing a national registration scheme for online sellers of medicines; and facilitating supply of medicines and medical devices during non-pandemic public health emergencies.