The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) has appointed Dr June Raine as its new chief executive, a position she was holding temporarily since 2019.
As head of the UK’s medicines regulator, she is highly commended for playing a crucial part in ensuring the UK was the first in the world to authorise the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines.
Health minister Lord Bethell said: “It is thanks to Dr Raine’s strong leadership during the pandemic that the UK was the first country in the world to authorise Covid-19 vaccines.
“The MHRA is widely regarded as one of the best regulators in the world with the highest standards of safety and I’m delighted to confirm Dr Raine’s appointment as CEO.
“I’m confident Dr Raine will build on MHRA’s success during the pandemic to make sure NHS patients are among the first to receive cutting-edge treatments in the future.”
Previous to becoming interim CEO, Dr Raine was director of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines and has worked for MHRA and its predecessor organisations for 36 years.
She qualified in medicine at the University of Oxford and undertook postgraduate research leading to an MSc in pharmacology and after several general medical posts, she joined the then Medicines Division of the Department of Health.
