New Transparency Standards Now in Place for EMA's Management Board
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is on a transparency kick. After coming under unrelenting pressure from the European Parliament (EP) and other stakeholders over perceived opaqueness at the agency, EMA has recently moved to roll out a number of initiatives it says it hopes will reverse the notion that it is a closed agency. Now, its transparency efforts are going right to the top.
In an announcement made 8 June, EMA said its Management Board will now be subject to "breach of trust" procedures intended to help weed out any potential conflicts of interest and deal with cases of "incorrect or incomplete" declarations of interest.
The adoption of conflict of interest policies for EMA's management board, which oversees the agency from within, completes the agency's conflict of interest framework, the agency said.
The move follows similar policies instituted by the agency in March when EMA Executive Director Guido Rasi implemented conflict of interest policies for members of EMA's scientific committees, including a similar "breach of trust" procedure and additional checks on the accuracy of declared interests.
The move garnered some concern regarding whether the agency would be able to obtain the experts necessary to staff its scientific committees, and EMA said in its 8 June notice it will keep the impact of the rules "under regular review."
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EMA - Management Board completes framework for conflicts of interests
Related: Regulatory Focus - EMA Looks Back on a Tough Year as it Forges Ahead