115. MHRA chief Lawrence Tallon

For the next of our BIG Autumn interview specials, former Minister Steve Brine speaks with Lawrence Tallon who heads up the powerful MHRA.

They start by discussing what the regulator is for and Steve asks whether there is an inherent tension between being faster and being safer — or is that actually the wrong way of thinking about modern regulation? They get into rare diseases where the MHRA’s proposed framework recognises that conventional development models designed for large populations don’t necessarily work when patient numbers are small. And the pair discuss whether Britain losing clinical trials overseas is yesterday's story or still the case today.

Steve and Lawrence also take a deep dive into AI (or SI as President Trump calls it) following the National Commission’s report on AI in healthcare.

The MHRA–NICE aligned pathway comes into the discussion; there’s little point having the fastest regulator in the world if an innovation then spends months waiting somewhere else in the system. They discuss this and, of course, if we really are moving towards a health system built around prediction, prevention and earlier intervention, Steve wants to know what the regulator of the future needs to become.

Oh and they share the misery of being fellow Spurs and it turns out, through Lawrences' work as Founding President with NHS Spurs, there's even a silver lining to that!

You can visit the MHRA here.

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