Veterinary Medicines

The European Medicines Agency's Veterinary Medicines Division is responsible for all activities related to veterinary medicines for which the Agency is responsible. This includes the provision of advice during the development of products, the authorisation process itself and post-authorisation activities such as variations to authorisations and pharmacovigilance, as well as all aspects of public health related to the use of veterinary medicines, particularly the establishment of maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the presence of residues of veterinary medicines in foodstuffs of animal origin.

The Division provides the secretariat to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP), Coordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralised Procedures - Veterinary (CMDv) and working parties that support the work of the Agency on veterinary medicines, and contributes to those activities of the Agency that span both human and veterinary activities, in line with the ‘one health’ approach.

The Division acts as the source of advice from the Agency on veterinary topics to European Union institutions, the International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH) and international organisations such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and Codex Alimentarius.

An organisation chart shows the full structure of the Veterinary Medicines Division.

Table of contents

• Head of Veterinary Medicines
• Veterinary Medicines Department

Head of Veterinary Medicines

Back to top

Head of Veterinary Medicines

Ivo Claassen

Nationality: Dutch

Career to date:

• Programme Manager, International Cooperation, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (2012-2018)
• Head of Department of Infection Biology, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (2015)
• Head of the Partnership Operation Office, Indonesian-Dutch Partnership on Control of Avian Influenza, Jakarta, Indonesia (2007-2011)
• Programme manager, International Support, Infectious Diseases, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (2006-2007)
• Member, Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP), (2004-2007)
• Manager of Department of Bacteriology and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE’s), Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (2004-2006)
• Head of Department of State Quality Control and Standardization, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (1999-2004)
• Deputy Head of Department of Quality Management, Qualified Person, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (1998-1999)
• Head of Department of Quality Control, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Lelystad, the Netherlands (1997-1998)
• Head of Laboratory of Biochemical Vaccine Quality Control, National Institute of Health and Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands (1986-1997)

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Virology and Immunology, Medical Faculty of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (1998)
• Master of Science (MSc) in Biomedical Sciences, Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands (1986)

Declaration of interests

Veterinary Medicines Department

Back to top

Head of Veterinary Medicines Department (ad interim)

Isaura da Conceição Duarte

Nationality: Portuguese

Career to date:

• Head of Veterinary Medicines Department (ad interim), European Medicines Agency (2017-present)
• Head of Animal and Public Health, European Medicines Agency (2009-present)
• Scientific Administrator, European Medicines Agency (1995-2009)
• National Expert on Detachment, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium (1992-1995)
• Veterinary Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Lisbon, Portugal (1986-1992)

Education:

• Degree in veterinary medicine, Higher School of Veterinary Medicine, Lisbon, Portugal (1986)

Declaration of interests

Head of Veterinary Pharmaceuticals

Nicholas Jarrett

Nationality: British

Career to date:

• Head of Veterinary Pharmaceuticals, European Medicines Agency (2017 – present)

• Scientific Administrator, European Medicines Agency (2007 – 2017)

• Nonclinical Assessor, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, London, UK (2003 – 2007)

• Medical Writer, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, London, UK (2002 – 2003)

• Medical Copywriter, Langland, Windsor, UK (2001)

• Editorial Assistant and Research Laboratory Manager, King’s College London, UK (1999 – 2000)

• Temporary Scientist, Novartis Institute for Medical Sciences, London, UK (1997 – 1999)

• Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK (1996)

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, UK (1993-1996)

• Master of Science in Toxicology, University of Surrey, UK (1992 – 1993)

• Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology, University of Sussex, UK (1988 – 1991)

Declaration of interests

Head of Veterinary Regulatory and Organisational Support

Emily Drury

Nationality: British and French

Career to date:

• Head of Veterinary Regulatory and Organisational Support, European Medicines Agency (2017-present)
• Scientific Administrator (project manager), Veterinary Regulatory and Organisation Support, European Medicines Agency (2009-2017)
• Regulatory Projects Manager, Cyton Biosciences Ltd, Bristol, United Kingdom (2006-2009)
• Regulatory Executive (Senior), Cyton Biosciences Ltd, Bristol, United Kingdom (2001-2006)

Education:

• Master of Science honours degree in Biological Sciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2000)

Declaration of interests

Head of Veterinary Risk and Surveillance

Jordi Torren Edo

Nationality:

Career to date:

• Head of Veterinary Risk and Surveillance, European Medicines Agency (2017-present)

• Principal Administrator, European Medicines Agency (2016-2017)
• Scientific Administrator, European Medicines Agency (2000-2015)
• Regulatory Affairs Manager in the private sector, Barcelona, Spain (1993-2000)

Education:

• Masters in pharmacology, Universitat Autonoma de Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain (2013)
• Masters in regulatory affairs, Universitat Autonoma de Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain (1999)

• Degree in veterinary medicine, Universitat Autonoma de Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain (1989)

Declaration of interests

Back to top

Head of Veterinary Biologicals and Emerging Therapies

Minna Leppänen

Nationality: Finnish

Career to date:

• Head of Veterinary Biologicals and Emerging Therapies, European Medicines Agency (2017-present)
• Head of Development and Evaluation of Veterinary Medicines (ad interim), European Medicines Agency (2017)
• Scientific Administrator, European Medicines Agency (2015-2017)
• Private Consultant in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and academia, ML Consulting, Vantaa, Finland (2000-2015)
• Managing Director, EvoStem Finland Oy, Tampere, Finland (2006-2009)
• Clinical Research Manager, ConMed Linvatec BioMaterials Ltd, Tampere, Finland (2003-2006)
• Head of Research, Orion Corporation (Orion Pharma), Animal Health, Plc, Espoo, Finland (2000-2003)
• Small animal practitioner, managing director, Keski-Uudenmaan Eläinlääkäriasema, Kereva, Finland (1990-2000)
• Companion animal practitioner, Päijät-Hämeen Eläinlääkäriasema, Lahti, Finland (1989-1990)
• Leading food hygiene and environmental health officer, Itä-Uudenmaan Kansanterveystyön kuntainliitto, Loviisa, Finland (1988-1989)
• Various short-term positions in small animal and farm animal practice and local authority offices in Finland (1987-1988)

Education:

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine  (DVM), University of Helsinki, Finland (1988)
• Specialist competence in companion animal medicine and surgery, University of Helsinki, Finland (1999)
• Doctor of philosophy (PhD) in veterinary medicine epidemiology,  University of Helsinki, Finland (2000)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA) , Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland (2007)       

Declaration of interests