UK cancer patients losing out on life-saving drugs 'due to Brexit'

Exclusive Red tape and costs derailing trials of revolutionary remedies

- Andrew Gregory

British cancer patients are being denied life-saving drugs and trials of revolutionary treatments are being derailed by the extra costs brought on by Brexit, a leaked report warns.

Soaring numbers are being diagnosed with the disease amid a growing and ageing population, improved diagnosis initiatives and wider public awareness - making global collaborations to find new medicines essential.

But five years after the UK's exit from the EU, the most comprehensive analysis of its kind concludes that while patients across Europe are benefiting from a golden age of pioneering research and novel treatments, Britons have "lost out" thanks to rising prices and red tape.

Brexit has "damaged the practical ability" of doctors to offer NHS patients life-saving new drugs via international clinical trials, according to the 54-page report obtained by the Guardian.

In some cases, the cost of importing new cancer drugs for Britons has nearly quadrupled as a result of post-Brexit red tape. Some trials have had shipping costs alone increase to 10 times the pre-Brexit amount.

The extra rules and costs have had a "significant negative impact" on UK cancer research, creating "new barriers" which are "holding back life-saving research" for Britons, the report says.