The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and Roche have announced that Roche has re-joined the U.K. trade association as a full member.

Mike Thompson, ABPI CEO said, "This is an exciting and critical time for the U.K. pharmaceutical industry as we face up to a number of challenges, in particular addressing life outside of the European Union. It's important that the ABPI can provide a coherent and aligned voice for our industry which represents the views of companies large and small. Therefore, having the world's largest biotech company sign up to full membership really is a boost and couldn't have come at a more crucial time. We very much look forward to working with all of the staff at Roche."

Richard Erwin, general manager, Roche Products said, "Our industry can be subject to significant environmental shifts and we recognise how important it will be to collaborate with other companies, the NHS and healthcare professionals to ensure that U.K. patients can get access to world leading healthcare."  

Roche's U.K. Pharmaceutical business plays a significant role in driving medical advancement, with around 600 employees supporting global and local clinical trials. Globally, it is the world's largest biotech company. It has one of the strongest medicine development pipelines in the industry in healthcare, investing around £6.6 billion in research and development globally every year across oncology, immunology, infectious diseases and neuroscience. 

The decision by Roche to re-join the ABPI is significant, with the trade association now representing nine out of 10 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.