CMS has picked up a contract for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) worth £3 million, according to new documents filed online.

As part of the mandate, the firm will advise the fitness to practice team at the GPhC, which is the independent regulator for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the U.K.

The contract will run for an initial three years with the potential for two year-long extensions, according to the contract tender notice.

CMS' head of professional discipline and regulatory Rachel Cooper led for the firm out of its Manchester office.

The award represents the latest big ticket healthcare mandate for CMS, which last year won a role on the £1.3 billion merger of two of the NHS's biggest landlords, and the year previous partnered with GlaxoSmithKline to establish a digital academy for the pharmaceutical giant's in-house lawyers.

A spokesperson for the firm added that CMS will work alongside barristers from 2 Hare Court to provide work for the GPhC.

In 2018, the firm also won a place on the legal panel for consumer goods behemoth Unilever, alongside seven other firms alongside seven other firms.

Elsewhere in the healthcare world, in October, U.S. firm Arnold & Porter brought on board a former legal adviser to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as a partner in its London office, while Reed Smith hired the legal director of M&A for Johnson & Johnson's Europe, Middle East and Asia arm in September.

Separately, the European Commission has cleared the proposed merger of U.S. pharma company AbbVie and Irish drug-maker Allergan on the condition that the two ave to sell one drug product currently being developed.

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