| 04 Février 2013
BASEL, SWITZERLAND—February 4, 2013 — Guido Rasi, head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), is just one of the many A-list participants set to speak at DIA Europe’s 25th Annual EuroMeeting in Amsterdam from 4-6 March, 2013.
Professor Rasi, Executive Director of the EMA, joins more than 300 speakers, moderators and panelists from around the world, who substantiate the meeting’s claim to being the most important event in the medicines development calendar.
He will co-chair the event’s Regulatory Town Hall Meeting on 6 March, together with Christa Wirthumer-Hoche, Member of the Co-ordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralised Procedures – Human (CMDh), and Deputy Head, Austrian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (AGES). This session will give attendees the chance to ask burning questions to experts about a broad range of current hot topics in the development of medicines.
Other high-profile EuroMeeting 2013 participants include:
- Andrzej Rys, Director in Directorate C, Public Health and Risk Assessment, Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs (DG SANCO)
- Tomas Salmonson, Chair Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), Senior Scientific Advisor, Medical Products Agency (MPA), Sweden
- Hans-Georg Eichler, Senior Medical Officer, EMA, who will chair a special session on the agency’s Scientific Committees. June Raine, Director of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines, Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), UK, will dial into this session from the PRAC (Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee) meeting, which she will chair.
- Dr. Stephen Spielberg, M.D., Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of DIA’s peer-reviewed scientific journal, Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science (TIRS)
As a neutral global forum the EuroMeeting 2013 will feature more than 110 sessions, 200 exhibitors and bring together professionals from the biopharmaceutical industry, contract research and service organizations, academic research centers, health ministries and delegates from patient organizations to share knowledge focusing on better public health protection, greater transparency of processes and the rational use of medicinal products. Among the packed conference programme professionals will have the opportunity to discuss current issues with fellow colleagues and the expert presenters.
Programme co-chair Beatriz Vicén Banzo, Head of Public Affairs and Technical Department in Bayer Spain, said: “The proposed areas for discussion for the EuroMeeting 2013 are classified into general disciplines including pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs for medicinal products and medical devices, research and development, and clinical trials. The scope of the presentations will cover the experience gathered after the implementation of the new pharmacovigilance legislative framework.”
The Pharmacovigilance Directive, which has applied in the EU since July 2012, sets out new legislation and guidance for the continuous monitoring of a medicines’ safety and actions to reduce risks and increase the benefits of medicines.
Programme co-chair Peter Bachmann, Chair of CMDh, added: “Knowing what still needs to be done – or improved – and most importantly: ‘are we getting what was initially expected from the Pharmacovigilance Directive?’. These are some of the key areas that the professionals attending the meeting will be able to learn about and debate. Other important topics include the Falsified Medicines and Information to Patients directives and considerations over an ageing population and the potential impact on hospitalizations.”
For more information about the event visit www.diahome.org/EM2013
ABOUT DIA
DIA is a neutral, global, professional, member-driven association of nearly 18,000 professionals involved in the discovery, development, and life cycle management of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and related health care products. Through our international educational offerings and myriad networking opportunities, DIA provides a global forum for knowledge exchange that fosters the innovation of products, technologies and services to improve health and well being worldwide. Headquarters are in Horsham, Pa., USA, with offices in Basel, Switzerland, Tokyo, Japan, Mumbai, India and Beijing, China. www.diahome.org
