European Medicines Agency Management Board Elects Kent Woods as New Chair

At its June 9, 2011 meeting in London, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Management Board unanimously elected Kent Woods, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of the United Kingdom, as chair for a three-year mandate.

Accepting his election, Professor Woods told the Board that, “it is my ambition to provide strategic leadership in helping the Agency to continue to protect public and animal health and maintain public trust.”

Proposals for better handling of conflicts of interests
The Board agreed on a way forward for introducing changes to the way the Agency handles potential conflicts of interests of staff members. The proposed changes are aimed at achieving a more robust system for staff, mirroring the same principles on handling conflicts of interest adopted by the Board in October 2010 for committee members and European experts.

Once implemented, the rules will clarify allowable and non-allowable interests for staff, and strengthen controls on the appointment of individuals as product team leaders. The rules will also require new Agency recruits to divest any interests prior to appointment.

The Agency also initiated discussions with the Board to find a common approach for the management of conflicts of interests throughout the EU network.