The agency that evaluates medicines in the European Union has been told by a judge that the UK’s departure from the bloc does not allow it to walk away from a £500m lease obligation on its former headquarters in Canary Wharf.

Property executives have been watching the High Court case keenly, amid predictions that a ruling in favour of the European Medicines Agency would set a precedent for occupiers to use Brexit as a reason for breaking office leases without financial penalty.