Dr June Raine to become interim Chief Executive Officer
Dr June Raine will become interim Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 20 September 2019.
Dr June Raine will become interim Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 20 September 2019. She replaces the current Chief Executive, Dr Ian Hudson, who steps down after 18 years with the Agency, six of them as Chief Executive Officer.
Dr Raine has extensive experience and knowledge of the Agency’s work, gained in a number of different licensing and post-licensing roles, and has been Director of the Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines (VRMM) division since 2006. Her extensive experience includes chairing the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on behalf of the European Medicines Agency for six years.
Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said:
“Dr Raine has spent her professional career in the Agency and its predecessor bodies. She is recognised as one of the leading experts in the field of medicines safety, playing a central role in the Agency’s work. I am delighted that she has agreed to act as interim chief executive of the Agency for the coming months.
“I would like to recognise the very substantial contribution that Dr Hudson has made to public health in the UK, in Europe, and globally, throughout his 18 years with the Agency, including the last six years as Chief Executive.”
Dr June Raine commented:
“I am proud to be asked to lead the Agency at this time and am looking forward to working with colleagues across the health and care sector to protect and promote public health, in the UK and internationally.”
Outgoing Chief Executive Dr Ian Hudson said:
“It has been a pleasure and privilege to have worked with so many able and committed people over the past 18 years. Our Agency makes a real difference to the health of millions of people in the UK, Europe and beyond, and it has been an honour to make a contribution to this work.”
Dr June Raine – biography
Dr Raine qualified in medicine at Oxford University, and undertook postgraduate research leading to an MSc in pharmacology. After general medical posts, her interest in medicine safety led to a career in medicines regulation. She joined the then Medicines Division of the Department of Health in 1985, moving to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency when it was formed in 2003.
Dr Raine worked in several medicines licensing and post-licensing areas, including medical devices, and became Director of the Agency’s Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines division in 2006. She was chair of the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on behalf of the European Medicines Agency from 2012 to 2018.