Dame June Raine, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has today announced that she
will be stepping down in the Autumn following five years in the
role. She took up the post in August 2019, following a career in
medicines regulation.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will shortly
begin recruitment for a new Chief Executive. Dame June will
remain in post until the Autumn to ensure a smooth transition to
her successor.
Dame June said:
It has been an enormous privilege to have led the MHRA through a
time of change which is unprecedented in UK medical products
regulation. I am especially proud that during the last 5 years
the Agency has built a new vigilance system, strengthened
international and national partnerships, and delivered regulation
which has enabled groundbreaking innovation, from gene therapy
for sickle cell disease and the world’s first Covid vaccine, to
being close to eradicating polio, and from medical device
software to AI diagnostics.
It has been an honour to lead an agency which has patient safety
as its top priority and makes a difference to the lives of
everyone in the UK. While I am stepping back from my MHRA role, I
hope still to be involved in contributing to patient safety and
public health in other ways.
Prof Graham Cooke, interim chair of the MHRA board,
said:
We are all truly thankful to Dame June for her substantial
contributions to patients and public health, both in the UK and
internationally, throughout her career. Her leadership of the
MHRA over the last five years, particularly during the COVID-19
pandemic, has been exceptional.
We are grateful that Dame June has agreed to continue in post
while a successor is appointed.
Notes to editors
- Dame June Raine has been Chief Executive Officer of the
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since August
2019. She was previously the Agency’s Director of Vigilance and
Risk Management of Medicines. Dame June trained in medicine in
Oxford after completing a master’s degree by research in
Pharmacology. Her interest in drug safety led to a career in
medicines regulation which has spanned a number of roles in
assessment, management and strategic development within the UK
national authority. She was elected in 2012 as the first chair of
the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee and
until recently was co-Chair of the WHO Advisory Committee on
Safety of Medicinal Products. Her special interests are in
monitoring the outcomes of regulatory action, risk communication
and patient involvement in the regulatory process.
