Life Sciences weekly highlights—16 October 2025
This week's edition of Life Sciences weekly highlights includes analysis by Freshfields LLP of recent highlights in the UK's medical devices regulatory framework and an MLex analysis indicating that the European Commission will issue guidelines on how the EU AI Act interacts with other EU laws such as the EU GDPR. Also included is news that MedTech Europe submitted recommendations to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the forthcoming European Innovation Act, the MHRA announced an expanded partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to accelerate innovation in medical technologies and AI and published guidance on new medical device registration fee planned to come into effect on 1 April 2026, and the European Notified Bodies industry group (Team-NB) and the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) responded to the Commission’s call for evidence on the targeted revision of the MDR and IVDR. Also included, is news that the MHRA has awarded the first three Innovation Passports under its revised Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP), and together with NICE have opened early access to the aligned streamlined approvals pathway six months earlier than projected, EU industry bodies have criticised the European Commission’s upcoming study on costs for implementing quaternary-level treatment upgrades under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) and, together with Cosmetics Europe, called for a data-driven, substance-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, and the European Commission opened a public consultation on its proposed European Research Area Act, among other stories.