Europe – EMA Management Board: highlights of October 2022 meeting

COVID-19

At its 6 October 2022 meeting in Amsterdam, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Management Board heard an update on the recent activities related to the response to COVID-19, focusing on the recent reviews of the adapted mRNA vaccines. A total of six vaccines, three adapted booster vaccines and eight treatments have been authorised for use in the European Union (EU) since the start of the pandemic.

Mid-year report 2022

EMA presented the report of activities for the first half of 2022. For human medicines, the total scientific advice and protocol assistance requests confirmed a five-year trend for growth with 470 requests received (454 in 2021). The initial evaluation of COVID-19 related products decreased; five applications received in the first half of 2022 vs 14 in 2021. For the veterinary medicine activities, the total figure for initial evaluation doubled (four in the first half of 2021 vs nine in the first six months of 2022). In addition, the Agency revised and finalised 12 guidelines and procedural advice for the application of the new veterinary legislation.

The 2022 mid-year report will be published on the EMA website shortly…