5 April 2017 - Europe's medicines watchdog is preparing to pack its bags and relocate from London, now that Britain has triggered the process of leaving the EU, and its executive director wants a decision on the agency's new home as fast as possible.

The EMA, employing nearly 900 staff, acts as a one-stop-shop for approving and monitoring the safety of drugs across Europe. Guido Rasi fears uprooting it could disrupt this work, unless done very carefully.

At stake is not only the smooth-running of the European Union drug approval process, which is vital for companies, but also public safety, should regulators fail to react to a side-effect problem or quality issue in a timely fashion.

"What I really fear is that something happens exactly during the transition phase - that is the real danger for public health," Rasi said in an interview from his offices overlooking London's old docks.

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