First press conference after re-election as head of the European Agency.
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The sustainability of European health services is at increasing risk. The question of the cost of drugs does not concern us directly, but we must contribute to lowering the cost of new therapies". To say it Guido Rasi, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), who held a virtual press conference, the first after his return as head of the regulatory body. Rasi has drawn up a 'roadmap' of the work that the EMA will have to carry out between now and the next 5 years.
“We are going through the most significant period of transformation of the medicines development and authorization system that I have witnessed during my 35-year career in the field of public health – reiterated Rasi, re-elected on October 1 and took office on November 11 , following the annulment of his appointment by the European Union Civil Service Tribunal over a procedural matter last year – both as a doctor, as a researcher and as a regulator. Protecting human and animal health and serving the needs of patients is our mission."
And even if the European Agency does not act directly on the cost of medicines, "it is necessary to make innovative therapies accessible and for this we are studying new approval models, for example the 'Prime' program to optimize and accelerate the evaluation of therapies" of greater value. The system "will be launched in the first half of 2016" and "our expectation is that all stakeholders contribute to this".
Barbara Di Chiara – December 10, 2015 – PharmaKronos
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Rasi (Ema): Innovation, transparency, more involved patients are the priorities for the next 5 years
