Dame June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is to step down after five years in the role.

She began the role in 2019, following a career in medicines regulation. She was previously the Agency’s director of vigilance and risk management of medicines.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will begin recruitment for her replacement shortly and she will remain in the role until the Autumn to ensure a smooth transition.

Dame June said: "It has been an enormous privilege to have led the MHRA through a time of change which is unprecedented in UK medical products regulation. I am especially proud that during the last 5 years the Agency has built a new vigilance system, strengthened international and national partnerships, and delivered regulation which has enabled groundbreaking innovation, from gene therapy for sickle cell disease and the world’s first Covid vaccine, to being close to eradicating polio, and from medical device software to AI diagnostics.

"It has been an honour to lead an agency which has patient safety as its top priority and makes a difference to the lives of everyone in the UK. While I am stepping back from my MHRA role, I hope still to be involved in contributing to patient safety and public health in other ways."

Prof Graham Cooke, interim chair of the MHRA board, said: "We are all truly thankful to Dame June for her substantial contributions to patients and public health, both in the UK and internationally, throughout her career. Her leadership of the MHRA over the last five years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been exceptional.

"We are grateful that Dame June has agreed to continue in post while a successor is appointed."