Inside EU Life Sciences

Updates on Legal Developments in the EU Life Sciences Industry

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) has published a targeted consultation on the indefinite recognition of the CE-mark for medical devices placed on the market in Great Britain (“GB”) (i.e., England, Scotland and Wales) (the “Consultation”), which will run until 10 April 2026.  The Consultation aims to complement wider planned reforms to

In short

On February 5, 2026, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed the European Commission’s appeal in Case C-540/23 P, confirming the Judgment of the General Court in Case T-201/21, Covington & Burling and Van Vooren v Commission.

The Court confirmed that Member States’ votes when adopting administrative EU acts are not subject to

Introduction

As discussed in our previous blogpost (link), on 16 December 2025, the European Commission (“Commission”) released its Proposal for the European Biotech Act (“Biotech Act”) (see here). 

This blogpost focuses on Chapter II of the Proposal (“Union Health Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing”), which introduces a framework for the recognition of “health biotechnology

Last week, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health has adjusted the rules governing Digital Health Applications (DiGA) once more. Key changes include new reporting obligations that require manufacturers to measure and document the success of their digital health apps. This reform adds notable operational pressure, while the reported outcomes will directly affect the prices of the

Germany has kicked off a new Pharma and MedTech Dialogue that aims to develop new policies and regulatory reform proposals to re‑establish Germany as a competitive, innovation‑friendly location for life sciences R&D and manufacturing. The outcome of this dialogue shall be the basis for a new German Pharma and MedTech Strategy.

I. The Pharma &

On November 5, 2025, the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (“MITECO”) adopted a Resolution setting out the National Plan for the control of compliance with access and benefit-sharing (“ABS”) obligations under Regulation 511/2014 implementing the Nagoya Protocol in the European Union.  The National Plan sets out a “risk-based” control system to ensure

The UK has published its first food safety guidance for cell-cultivated food products (“CCPs”).  So far, the UK authorities have addressed two issues: 

  • First, the guidance confirms that the authorities will treat CCPs produced using animal cells as products of animal origin.  Producers of CCPs from animal cells must therefore follow the existing hygiene and

Introduction

On 16 December 2025, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its Proposal for a Regulation on establishing a framework of measures for strengthening the Union’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing sectors particularly in the area of health (“Biotech Act”) (see here).  The Proposal follows a public consultation held between August 2025 and November 2025 (see here

This is one in a series of Inside EU Life Sciences blogs on the European Commission’s (“Commission’s”) latest proposal for a European Biotech Act.

On 16 December 2025, the Commission announced a proposal to introduce a new draft Regulation (“Proposed Regulation”) aimed at boosting the EU’s competitiveness in the biotech sector and accelerating the development

This is one in a series of Inside European Life Sciences blogs on the proposal for an EU Biotech Act in the form of a regulation that the European Commission released on 16 December 2025.  This blog focuses on the proposals to amend the EU’s clinical trial rules and establish a new regime for combined