The MCA is to spend £50 million on modernising its IT systems to allow more electronic communication with stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical industry.

The 10-year deal with management consultants Accenture builds on the Agency's Information Management Strategy developed in 2000 and will see all its IT services outsourced.

New systems will also be developed and built with the partners looking at new business opportunities that may emerge as a result of the investment.

The deal has gone ahead despite the merger of the MCA with the Medical Device Agency (MDA) to create the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in April 2003.

The MCA says the IT needs of the new agency will be considered following the merger, but it seems almost certain that the new agency will adopt the existing programme.

Doreen Hepburn, the MCA Director of Information Management said: "For the past couple of years we have been looking at the whole of our IT needs and how we can develop these to meet the needs of our stakeholders. This will include moving towards more electronic working and ensuring our systems are the most up to date available. We see Accenture as a strategic partner in this deal and look forward to implementing our strategy".

The MCA is keen to show its capacity to work with stakeholders quickly and transparently through electronic communication as its future in Europe's regulatory field hangs in the balance.

The European Commission is currently proposing to sideline national regulatory agencies in favour of an enlarged EMEA, which would include an electronic database for post-marketing pharmacovigilance.

pharmafocus@pharmafile.co.uk