The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has laid out its performance over the past year in its annual report. 

In its 2025/26 results and 2026/27 forecast report, the regulator says it met or exceeded all statutory targets to increase access to medicines and medical devices for UK patients.

Citing new global partnerships, clinical trials reform and work in AI regulation, the MHRA said it is speeding up access to medicines for patients, increasing efficiency of regulation, and helping to attract life sciences innovation and investment.

Gerard Hanratty, Partner and Head of Health and Life Sciences at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, said: “The life sciences industry requires a modern regulator that adapts to change quickly and looks beyond its own borders to partner with other jurisdictions, so in this respect the MHRA is definitely moving forward to support the development of the sector. 

“Government should take note that an adequately funded and empowered MHRA is not a 'nice to have', but a prerequisite for the UK being taken seriously as a global destination for life sciences investment. 

“Our white paper on Advancing Inward Investment into the UK Health Sector made precisely this point that regulatory agility is the foundation on which everything else depends. The progress on clinical trials reform, the pioneering work on rare disease therapeutics pathways, and the MHRA's inaugural membership of the HealthAI Global Regulatory Network are exactly the types of developments that give international investors the confidence signals they need.

“Particularly welcome is the deepening alignment between the MHRA and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). We have long argued that reducing friction between the regulatory and access pathways is fundamental to making the UK a genuinely attractive market – not just for innovators, but for the inward investment that will enable the NHS to modernise its infrastructure and services on a sustainable footing.

“However, regulatory performance alone will not unlock the full potential of life sciences investment into the UK health sector. The barriers that still deter international partners –fragmented procurement processes, the absence of a unified entry point for investors, and the need for a coherent national strategy on NHS commercial engagement – remain stubbornly in place. 

“The MHRA's forthcoming five-year strategy is an important opportunity, but it must be developed in concert with wider structural reforms across DHSC, NHS England and the broader healthcare system. A world-class regulator operating within a fragmented investment environment will only ever deliver part of what UK health and life sciences can achieve.

“The direction of travel set out in this report is right. The ambition now must be to match regulatory excellence with the broader investment architecture that will bring benefits for patients, the NHS and UK economy.”