Countries across the globe shut their borders to Britain on Dec. 21 due to fears about a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of food shortages days before Britain is set to leave the European Union.

The European Union is waiting to see if British lawmakers block Brexit before giving Britain concessions to strike a new withdrawal agreement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

The top pharmaceutical companies are trying to proactively tackle, through shifts in R&D strategy and other tactics, the healthcare demands of the future.

Paul Ranson, of global law firm Morgan Lewis’ London Life Science’s Practice, examines how the UK Biopharma must now adapt to a changing landscape.