An Italian will lead the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This is Guido Rasi, current director general of the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa), elected Executive Director in London by the board of directors of EMA. The appointment, decided with a broad consensus, will have to be ratified by the European Commission: a formality before Rasi can take the reins of the European Medicines Agency, currently led by an interim director whose mandate will expire at the end of 2011.
"Rasi should therefore take office in 2012 - comments to Pharmakrons Giuseppe Nisticò, member of the EMA Board of Directors representing the European Parliament - This is an extremely prestigious position for our country, since it corresponds, in the pharmaceutical sector, to all The equivalent of the leadership of the European Bank and the EMA is the European equivalent of the US regulatory body FDA".
Immediate congratulations from Sergio Dompè, president of Farmindustria: “A position of absolute prestige that bears witness to his professional value and his high-profile scientific skills and which brings prestige to the entire country. I am sure that he will also demonstrate to EMA the rigor and ability with which he led the Italian drug agency".
"The appointment of Guido Rasi to the EMA, which is the most important of all the European agencies, is a great success and a source of great pride for our country and for all Italian healthcare". Thus the Minister of Health Ferruccio Fazio comments on the appointment of the current director general of the Italian Medicines Agency as General Manager of the European regulatory body. "His choice is in fact the recognition of Rasi's excellent scientific and managerial qualities, and also expresses the appreciation for the management by the Berlusconi Government and Aifa of the Italian pharmaceuticals which, I want to remind you, is an extremely dynamic and innovative for the benefit of citizens, despite having been stable for three years from the point of view of costs for the State".
June 9, 2011 – Pharmakronos
