Paul advises on all areas of commercial law and other general legal advice in a commercial context involving day-to-day business issues. In particular, he drafts, negotiates and advises on all commercial contracts, particularly in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences, IT, online and retail sectors. This includes agreements involving intellectual property (IP) assignments and licences, software development, software licences, hosting, SaaS (software as a service), web design, managed services, disaster recovery, support & maintenance, agency, distribution, supply, manufacturing, merchandising, warehousing, outsourcing, purchase and franchise; B2B, B2C, B2G, and international agreements. Paul also advises on data protection, brand protection, advertising and know-how issues.
GSK has agreed to open up its patient data from clinical trials to researchers in a new online platform. The UK’s biggest pharma company has already signed up to the AllTrials campaign in a demonstration of its support for open access to clinical trial data. GSK’s scheme actually goes further than that by allowing access… Learn more
Huw Irranca-Davies, an MP who has campaigned for a couple of years over the continuing problems with medicine supply shortages, has urged the Government to “step in and set the ground rules” on dealing with the issue. He believes that the only way to sort the problem is for the Government to take the… Learn more
The pharma industry must work closer with and listen to pharmacists in order to optimise use of medicines, according to Dr Charles Alessi, chairman of the National Association of Primary Care and interim chairman of NHS Clinical Commissioners. Alessi, who is a senior adviser with Public Health England, said something had to be done about… Learn more
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is consulting on allowing medicines to be sold on planes and trains. If approved, it will require changes to the law – in particular, the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Industry players have indicated that they approved of the changes because they would increase income from selling over-the-counter… Learn more
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Union’s medicines regulator, has adopted the UK’s “black triangle” system to highlight those drugs that have potentially bigger dangers of side effects. The move comes as part of the new EU pharmacovigilance laws and is intended to help to highlight and encourage earlier reporting of any particular serious… Learn more
The European Parliament has been debating introducing a new law to compensate indigenous people where their local know-how is used in developing new medicines. Under the proposals, pharmaceuticals organisations would need the consent of local people before exploring local genetic resources or using their know-how. It is early stages in the debate on this biopiracy… Learn more
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has accused some wholesalers of manipulating the market for generic drugs that are in short supply by hiking up the prices. The PSNC, which represents NHS community pharmacy contractors and promotes and supports their interests, said the burden of generic drugs that are in short supply is getting ever… Learn more
NHS England, the new overseeing body within the National Health Service, has commissioned the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to encourage and accelerate the uptake of innovative technologies in the NHS. NHS England wants to see innovation reach patients quicker than currently happens. NICE will take over from the NHS Technology Adoption… Learn more
The Department of Health has promoted the use of mHealth schemes after a pilot showed the savings, convenience, accessibility and efficiencies that could be made. One of the DH’s objectives is to use technology to achieve those outcomes, and the 15 month pilot scheme at different NHS centres in England successfully showed the benefits. In… Learn more
The Consumer Rights Bill has featured in the Queen’s Speech. The details have not yet been published, but the briefing notes explain that it aims to consolidate 100 separate pieces of consumer legislation into one, including covering goods, services, digital content and unfair terms in one place. The new law also aims to clarify and… Learn more