EMEA celebrates 10th anniversary
Press release
The European Medicines Agency hosted a conference on 11 March 2005 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its inauguration. At the London meeting, the message from European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen was that the European regulatory system for medicines, with the Agency at its core, has become a success story. This view was echoed by the large number of speakers in attendance, including Luxembourg's Health Minister, Mars Di Bartolomeo, and European Parliament Vice-President Dagmar Roth-Behrendt.
Speakers from the US Food and Drug Administration and the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency paid generous tribute to the Agency for its efforts in the field of medicines evaluation, and commended the European way of regulating medicines and promoting public health.
A panel of internationally renowned scientists participated in the conference, entitled 'A scientific perspective on the future of medicines', which focused on issues relating to HIV, vaccines, oncology, diabetes, pharmacovigilance, veterinary medicines and the patients' perspective on medicines regulation. Professor Luc Montagnier, President of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, gave an update on research into vaccines against HIV/AIDS, while Professor Paris Kosmidis, President of the European Society of Medical Oncology, addressed expectations and developments in the field of cancer treatment. Trends in the treatment of diabetes were the topic of Professor Eberhard Standl, Vice-President of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and Munir Pirmohamed, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool, focused on how to handle pharmacovigilance in the future to improve drug safety and protect public health.
The Community authorisation for veterinary medicinal products and its contribution to animal health in the EU was the theme of Professor Paul-Pierre Pastoret of the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Concluding the scientific part of the conference, Rodney Elgie, President of the European Patients' Forum, gave the patients' perspective on the future development of medicines in Europe.
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