European Medicines Agency Appoints Senior Medical Officer

November 14, 2006 – 11:21 am | posted in Public Health

Thomas Lonngren, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency, has announced the appointment of Professor Hans-Georg Eichler, MD, MSc, as the Agency’s Senior Medical Officer.

The creation of the Senior Medical Officer post is intended to consolidate the Agency’s increased scientific role following recent changes in EU pharmaceutical legislation, and underlines the commitment to enhance the scientific competence of the Agency.

The Senior Medical Officer will advise the Executive Director on a range of matters relating to the Agency’s mission to protect and promote public and animal health. The role involves coordinating activities between the Agency’s scientific committees, and advising on scientific and public health issues, with a particular focus on clinical and pre-clinical aspects of medicines for human use. He will have a key role, together with the Heads of Unit responsible for human and veterinary medicines, in a number of projects aimed at ensuring high-quality decisions by the Agency’s committees and reinforcing the consistency of those decisions.

Hans-Georg Eichler, who will take up this new post in February 2007, is currently Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He is a former member of the Agency’s Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, and is currently a member of the CHMP Scientific Advice Working Party.

Announcing the appointment, Thomas LÃ¶nngren said, “Hans-Georg Eichler will bring a wealth of experience from his background in academia, medical practice, medical research and outcomes research. He will complement the scientific expertise of the Agency, and help us to reinforce the EMEA’s position as a world-class, science-driven regulator of medicines.”

In accepting the post, Professor Eichler said, “I am looking forward to this opportunity to participate in developing further the scientific quality of the Agency. The EMEA offers a unique working environment with a high density of expertise that is not readily available elsewhere.”

Popularity: 1% [?]