Members of the government agency which monitors the safety of medicines will be barred from having any links to pharmaceutical companies under new measures announced today.
The proposals would overhaul of the relationship between the drug industry and the watchdog body set up to police it, which has been criticised as being too close.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been accused of listening more to the drug industry than to patients over its handling of concerns about the safety of drugs such as the antidepressant Seroxat.
Under reforms outlined today, the MHRA would set up a new commission to advise ministers on the safety and effectiveness of medicines.
The Commission on Safety and Efficacy of Medicines would bring together the existing Medicines Commission and the Committee on Safety of Medicines. The new body would include more lay and patient members as well as medical experts.
None of the members will be allowed to hold interests in the pharmaceutical industry, bringing the regulator in line with EU policy, which bars members of bodies like the MHRA from having financial or other interests in pharmaceutical companies.
The measures, announced by the health minister Lord Warner, are intended to ensure that those deciding which medicines and treatments are licensed are impartial.
Lord Warner said: "It is important that the MHRA is open and transparent. We want to give patients and the public a greater role in advising on safety of medicines by including strong lay and patient representatives on the new commission and its bodies and groups.
"To further ensure we get completely impartial advice, experts concerned with the authorisation and surveillance of medicinal products will now have to prove that they have no financial interests in the pharmaceutical industry.
"They will also have to declare any other interests, including any that they are aware of that members of their immediate family hold, and any other matter that affect their impartiality or could be perceived as affecting their impartiality."
The minister also called on the pharmaceutical industry to fulfil its agreement to publish all clinical trial information on medicines currently licensed for use in the UK.
The move follows allegations that drug companies have selectively published trial data to get new products on the market, and have concealed negative findings about existing products.
Last year, GlaxoSmithKline was accused of suppressing evidence that its antidepressant drug Seroxat increased suicide and self-harm in under-18s. The MHRA has banned its use for children.
Richard Brook, the chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said: "Today's announcement is great news and a positive first step towards more open and independent regulation of pharmaceutical medicine in the UK. The government should be commended for clearly having listened to the views and experiences of patients.
"On the other hand, it is worth asking whether any of this would have come about without the huge amount of public pressure and negative publicity around drugs companies' inappropriate behaviour with regards the aggressive promotion of certain antidepressants."
