New EMEA chief assesses priorities

Thomas Lonngren, new Director General of the European MedicinesEvaluation Agency and former head of Sweden's Medical Products Agency, says the "EMEA's future will depend on how we are regarded by those around us." Quoted in the newsletter of the Swedish pharmaceutical association LIF, he adds that the "EMEA is now being assessed by the [European] Commission, which will put forward a proposal [this year].

Noting that it is the EMEA's task to carry out the duties that the Commission places on it, Mr Lonngren says that since the central procedure has been successful, he believes that the conclusion will that it should continue and develop along the path already taken. "Coordination is necessary, and I am sure that the EMEA will play a major role in the future," he said.

"Another important task for me is to develop the workplace with its 200 employees, according to my experience of modern leadership....I am very impressed at what has been built up at the EMEA, in its short five-year lifetime," he added.