Dr Sam Atkinson
Biography
Sam oversees a large portfolio that is designed to ensure the quality and access of products to the UK market - this includes scientific advice, clinical trials/clinical investigations, licensing assessment, marketing authorisations and device registrations, inspections, enforcement and standard setting through for example the British Pharmacopoeia and Target Product Profiles.
Sam was appointed to Interim Chief Quality & Access Officer in September 2020. Prior to this Sam held several roles at the MHRA including Director of Inspection, Enforcement & Standards (IE&S), Director of Business Transformation, Deputy Director for IE&S, and Scientific Director for the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) and Laboratory Services. Sam also worked in the Inspectorate for several years, performing inspections, nationally and overseas. Prior to joining the MHRA, Sam worked in industry for a number of years.
Sam studied chemistry at Reading University, completed an MBA at Warwick University and has also completed the Civil Service Major Project Leadership Academy. Sam is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Visiting Research Fellow at Reading University, playing an active role promoting public sector opportunities to science graduates.
Interim Chief Quality & Access Officer
The inspection, enforcement and standards division inspects manufacturers, wholesale dealers and importers of medicines to check they are meeting our standards. They also inspect clinical trials and toxicology labs.
They investigate when we receive reports of illegal advertising, production or sale of medicines for human use, which can result in legal action being taken. We also monitor the import of unlicensed medicines.
We are responsible for testing services in the agency, to determine whether or not materials and products are medicines, which would need to be regulated.
We are responsible for the British Pharmacopoeia (BP); an annually published book that makes an important contribution to protecting public health by providing authoritative quality standards for UK pharmaceutical substances and medicinal products.